The tail will be the end of me

by colormemore

Summary:

There’s a long-standing curse over the F1 grid, one that everyone knows of and which could happen to anyone. Not anything that would stop a race - but things that would be an inconvenience.

Or: Max is cursed with cat ears and a tail and tries (not very hard) to not make it everyone’s business. Mostly, he is just very embarrassed by the tail which seems to have its own mind.

Notes:

I'm quite new to F1, so I admit that I do not know all the people around the paddock - some are even made up. Either excuse the inaccuracies, or correct me in the comments!

So, strange things happened. Everyone knew it and accepted that it was just the way the world of Formula 1 worked. It was nothing less than magic; or as the rumour said - a curse.

It usually wasn't even big things, just minor inconveniences. Like someone turning up at the paddock one morning with suddenly newly grown waist-length hair hidden inside the hood of their sweatshirt, or a team of engineers only speaking and understanding Finnish, a social media team that could only walk sideways for a day. Different coloured hair, eyes and even skin. 

Suddenly acquiring one or two animal features was a rather popular one, it happened on the regular. Sharp teeth, clawed hands, snake-like skin, slitted eyes. 

No one was spared, the curse affected both drivers, engineers, Team personnel and even Team Leaders. 

So Max wasn't really surprised when he, on a Tuesday morning, woke up with cat ears and a tail. That would be his luck, of course. He was told frequently that he behaved a lot like his beloved cats. If he was being completely objective, he couldn’t fault anyone for saying it, but sometimes he would very much like to smack them for such comments. 

And now he could do it quite literally, with sharp nails to back it up.

. . . . . . . . 

The first thing a new employee has to do after signing a contract is signing an additional NDA-form. 

You do not speak about the magic, you do not record or photograph the magic, you do everything in your power to keep the magic a secret. You help the person/persons that are “inconvenienced”, to the very best of your ability. You help to keep an “inconvenience” a secret, even if that means hiding a member of another team inside your motorhome. And so on and so forth. 

They were then invited to a WhatsApp-group named simply II - “Inconvenience Information”, which hosted everyone on the grid, all personnel and everyone that worked with or around the F1 circus. It’s a big group, but so far none of the happenings had reached outside the F1 world. They were not allowed to post any pictures or words that could be connected to any kind of magic. So the information consisted mostly of codewords like “Checo + inconvenience + needs hoodie” or “Andrea + inconvenience + eyes” and it was up to everyone else to figure out what was wrong along the way. 

And all this secrecy seemed to help, because according to paddock-legend, the curse had been active for some 30-40 years already. No one knew when it started, who it started with or how, but as of present, everyone had accepted it as a quirk of F1.

. . . . . . . . . 

TUESDAY

“Charles, I have cat ears.” he said while leaning over the bathroom sink to get a closer look in the mirror.

“What?” Charles' voice was gravelly and hoarse through the phone’s speakers and Max knew that his phone call had woken the other man. He reached up and swept his hands over the sandy coloured ears protruding from the top of his head. Both ears flicked down involuntarily when he touched them, but other than that he didn't feel any discomfort.

“Cat ears” he repeated “and a tail.” He added absentmindedly. He had already gone through the panic phase - he had woken up at around 04.30 with an uncomfortable pain in his lower back and proceeded to panic for two hours.

He didn't feel any different. His eyes seemed to have some yellowish tones in the blue, but it was not that noticeable. More noticeable was the slitted pupils. Not as much as a real cat, but enough to be questioned if seen.

“What?” came Charles' voice again, this time a bit higher in pitch. Max heard rustling from Charles moving around in bed, before the other man continued “Are you a cat? You can't drive as a cat.” 

Max snorted out a short laugh. “No. I have cat ears and a tail. That’s it.” Mostly . He paused, waiting for Charles to collect himself. These magic curse-moments were quite common so he wasn't really surprised when he woke this morning with extra appendages, but it still took some time to digest and to get over his little freak-out.

“I’m coming over,” Charles said eventually. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

The phone connection cut when Charles abruptly hung up and Max turned from the mirror and walked back into his bedroom. A hoodie, he needed a big hoodie so that he could hide the tail currently curled around his waist. It was either that or have it shoved down his pant leg, and he found immediately how uncomfortable that was. The sweatpants sat low on his hips, under where the tail protruded on his lower back. He smoothed a hand over the soft tail around his stomach, it looked a lot like Jimmy’s and Sassy’s tail; black and sandy stripes.

He could easily hide this , he told himself. 

It had happened before, quite a few times even. Kimi had spent more than a week with white cat ears, George had had brown leopard ears just a few weeks ago. He could hide it with big hoodies, sweatpants and his beloved caps, no problem. No problem at all.

He jumped when there was a loud knock on his door, and he realised that he had been nervously walking back and forth in his apartment ever since Charles had hung up on him.

As soon as he opened the door he could see Charles’ expression melt from slightly worried to something that looked like fondness with a hint of glee when he caught sight of Max’s new ears. Embarrassment made them fold down and Max could feel his cheeks and neck heat up in response to Charles’ gaze. Charles opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated a few seconds. “Cute.” He settled on while smirking a little, making Max bare his teeth at him, effectively showing the new sharp canines. 

He stepped inside and closed the door behind himself, toeing off his shoes. “So, what else?” he asked while looking Max up and down. Max felt the blush intensify at the look, and turned his back to Charles, walking over to the sofa in the living room. 

He sighed as he thought over the changes. “Tail, teeth, longer nails” he started before reluctantly adding “and eyes.”

Charles had sat down beside him, but turned towards him at that last word. “Eyes?” He leaned forward a little, trying to see for himself but failing, Max firmly keeping his eyes down. “Let me see.”

Max resisted, he didn't want Charles to be uncomfortable. Max found the slitted pupils a bit disconcerting in his otherwise human eyes, and he thought Charles might be unsettled by them. 

“Please, Max. I won’t laugh” Charles said, mistaking Max’ silence. 

Knowing he wouldn't get out of it anyway, Max took a deep breath. “I’m not worried about you laughing.” he mumbled before turning and looking at Charles. The small smile on Charle’s lips froze for a second before disappearing all together, his eyes widened and Max could feel his pulse increasing and his ears pressing uncomfortably close to his head in response to the look on the other man’s face. To be fair, the look of shock quickly disappeared and was replaced with what Max could only think of as fascination. 

“ Oh, Max .” Charles whispered, transfixed until Max’s eyes flickered away in discomfort from the prolonged eye contact. “No, wait” he said and reached out a hand and carefully turned Max’ face back towards himself. “Are they more… gold than usual?” His brows furrowed, fingers still on Max’s cheek. 

Max knew that his blush would most likely be both seen and felt by Charles, but was glad when he didn't mention either. He didn't even know why he was so embarrassed. “Yes, a bit, not much though.” He himself had thought there were yellow hints in his eyes, but he’d take gold . He could feel himself relaxing a bit when no other extreme reaction seemed to come from Charles, and with his muscles relaxing the ears began to unfreeze themselves from being pressed down to his scalp, and suddenly Charles’ eyes were drawn away from his eyes (thank god) . The hand that had been hovering beside Max’ cheek, floated up wards but didn't touch yet. Max jerked away when it looked like it was about to and Charles was effectively pulled from his entrancement.

“Sorry.” He said sheepishly, leaning back against the back of the sofa. “They’re so…” he seemed to look for words for a second. “They look like–”

“If you fucking dare say I remind you of Jimmy and Sassy, I will scratch your ass deep enough that you won’t be able to drive for weeks.” He held out his hand in a claw-like shape which showed off his new strong claws and Charles grinned in response.

Max knew both his ears and tail looked like Jimmy’s and Sassy’s, they were Bengals and Max’s colouring and the shape of the markings looked very much like them. 

Max felt a bit more like himself and slumped back onto the sofa. He breathed out the anxiety he had held ever since Charles had knocked on his door. Logically he knew that Charles would never laugh or make fun of him for this predicament, and he would definitely not be revolted. These things happened way too often on the grid for anyone to feel genuine disgust over some changed features; a bit of dismay maybe (some things actually looked very strange), but nothing more.

“Where’s the tail?” Charles asked and Max’s hands immediately flew down to cross protectively around his abdomen where the tail curled around himself. “Max, it’s ok, I promise.” Max looked up and Charles nodded back at him, a hand coming to hold loosely, reassuringly, on Max’s arm. “I promise I won’t touch it or do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

Max knew that it was better for someone to know every change that had happened, so that they could help him hide if it was ever needed, but, the tail . It really had a mind of its own, more so than even his ears, he had discovered. More incriminating , anyway. The ears he could almost control if he concentrated hard enough, but the tail had no reaction to his wishes at all. It flicked back and forth, the fur had puffed up in reaction to Charles’ knock on the door earlier, and it had moved restlessly and almost trembled when Charles’ fingers touched his cheek earlier. Max knew that the tail would give him grey hairs, trying to keep it under wraps.

Seeing no other choice really, he unwound the tail from his abdomen and pulled it out from under his sweater, smoothing the fur in the process. It straightened out and soon swayed lazily beside him, sweeping over Charles’ arm making his mouth fall open rather unattractively. That alone made Max feel a small thrill of vindication; if he couldn't control it, it should at least make others dumbfounded.

That was it really, Charles ooh-ed and ah-ed over the tail, the ears some more before they got talking more about the hiding business that he would have to do on the way to and from the circuit the next day. 

He tried most of his caps and they eventually settled on one of his most used Red Bull caps; it was the most soft on his ears, even though they were cramped under it. He only had to open the back a few notches for it to sit without pain and without looking too wonky. 

Singapore, which was the next race, was hot so he could not really get away with a jacket. However, a loose t-shirt could hide the tail if it was wrapped tight around his stomach, and they settled on bringing an emergency hooded zip-up. The eyes were not really noticeable until someone was close enough, but a pair of sunglasses worked wonders. His sharper canine teeth and fingernails were easier to hide without any helping measures, thank fuck .

Charles had had a small moment of fucking dumb curiosity when Max had changed back from the t-shirt to the sweater, and he had seen where his pants and underwear sat low on his hips, under where the tail protruded on his lower back. Earlier, Max had changed t-shirts in his bedroom so Charles wouldn't see, but he had accidentally pulled the last t-shirt over his head just before rounding the corner to his bedroom, and it was too late. Charles blinked a few times, rose and walked after him from where he had been giving his opinions about the different clothes, while sitting on the couch.

He followed Max into the bedroom, eyes glued to Max’s lower back. “How is it- what does it feel like?” he asked in a daze, making Max jump and making a half-turn on his heel in surprise. Before he could answer, Charles’ hand brushed over the base of his tail and Max recoiled a few steps in surprise, a small electric shock going through him from the contact.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Charles exclaimed, immediately taking a few steps back and looking up at Max in sincere apology, horror melting over his features at what he had done. “I promised I wouldn't touch unless you said it was ok, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” 

Max silently stared back at him, weighing his options. “I- it’s ok,” he said eventually. He didn't have a problem with Charles touching, not really, but both the ears and the tail were sensitive , and he didn't know how to explain that without sounding strange.

“I’m gonna sound so strange” he said, giving a depreciating little laugh, “but they are really sensitive.” Charles tilted his head in understanding, opening his mouth to say something, but Max continued before he could. “It’s ok for you to touch, but please give me a warning.”

Charles took a step closer, an obvious question in his eyes. “Yes, you can touch.” Max said, knowing it was better to get it over with, a small knot forming in his stomach.

“Thank you.” Charles breathed out, a smile playing on his lips and Max’s hands fisted in reaction as the other reached up to run a finger along one of his ears. It felt nice, like a tickle and Max relaxed minutely until Charles’ whole hand ran over the bridge of the ear, stroking up and down. Oh , that felt nice . The hand ruffled the hair around the bottom of his ear, before retreating, but the satisfied smile stayed on Charles’ lips and Max wanted to lean forward and lean his head against his shoulder and–

“Can I touch your tail?” Max jerked and straightened himself from his slumped form, back muscles clenching before he exhaled a puff of air. He nodded a bit unsurely, but Charles waited patiently.

“Yes.” He said silently, swallowing. “Ok.” He was still shirtless, so he just had to turn a little for Charles to again see where the tail was attached to his spine and wrapped around Max’s lower arm. Charles’ hand first stroked lightly over the part wrapped around his hand, and it felt good, but nothing as electric as before. 

“It’s so smooth.” Charles said in wonder, hand getting more and more bold as he gave longer strokes over the soft and shiny fur. Max could see his eyes straying to his lower back, and he turned subtly so Charles could see better. “Wow, I- it really goes straight into the spine, doesn’t it?” He asked. He didn't ask to touch where it connected to his back, and Max didn't say he could, instead the traitorous tail unhooked from his own arm and flicked over to Charles to give a slow ‘tap’ on to his hand.

Charles looked up at Max incredulously, raising his eyebrows in that irritating way he does. “I’m not doing that!” Max was sure that Charles didn't believe him, but whatever. He knew the tail would be embarrassing - better to get over it now. “I promise that I have no control over the tail, don’t read too much into what it does.” he pleaded, trying to sound indifferent, but pink was creeping back into his face.

Charles cleared his throat, turning his hand for the tail to curl around it better. “ Right .”

. . . . . . . . 

WEDNESDAY

The evening before, Max sent a message to the II-group on WhatsApp, a simple “Look out for a cat” and getting massive amounts of hearts and thumbs up in response. There was immediately a message from Lando in their separate driver’s group asking if it was a cute cat or something vicious and bigger? Charles had answered that one before Max had even opened up the chat with “a really cute one” and Lando and the others collectively lost their shit (they tended to do that, Max privately thought that the drivers had all developed a partial hive-mind). But still, no pictures were taken, and no specifics were given, as per the rules.

So, wednesday morning rolled around and he boarded his jet to Singapore, Charles behind him. Lando soon came shuffling up the stairs, having missed the two when they boarded just a few minutes ago.

Lando's first comment when he had boarded, was that he looked like Jimmy and Sassy and Charles had laughed out loud next to Max. Max had sunk further down into his seat, pulled his hood up over his ears and turned towards the window with a huff, ignoring them both for a moment.

When George, Alex and Pierre finally boarded, all three of them late because of traffic, Charles made him turn around to face them and pull his hoodie down. They were all suitably interested in his animal features, taking advantage of the privacy the private flight afforded them. He could feel their eyes roaming over him, taking in the extra ears. Lando suddenly leaned over the small table between them and squinted. “Have your eyes changed colour?” Max locked eyes with him deliberately and Lando gasped in glee. “Oh, you have slitted pupils!”

The other three all tried to make him look at them at the same time, all of them giving an appropriate reaction to the eyes. He preened a little at their attention, not noticing at first when his tail sneaked out from under his shirt and first flicked over Charles’ lap and chest and then up onto the table. He jerked and pulled his tail back down into his own lap, but the others had seen it from when Charles had frozen in place when the tail swiped over his chest.

Max knew that there was no use in hiding from his best friends, and he smirked to himself when he saw that it was Charles’ turn to try to hide his reddened cheeks.

“Yeah, the tail.” He said finally, releasing it from his death grip, and they all spent a moment watching it tap fruitlessly against the side of the table. “I can’t control it.”

Several hours later they landed in Singapore, and a few days of chaos awaited them. Hopefully he could drive without too many problems. If he were lucky, he would be back to normal tomorrow.

. . . . . . . . 

THURSDAY

He wasn't lucky. He woke on Thursday morning with the tail wrapped around his leg and one cat ear slightly cramping from sleeping with it pressed into the pillow.

Showering was an interesting affair - he had to wash his hair carefully around the ears, trying not to get water inside them. The tail didn't exactly hate water, but the feeling of wet fur was disconcerting to say the least. He pulled his soapy hands over it, trying to be as quick as possible. 

As he arrived at the circuit, he could immediately feel several curious gazes on him, but since everything was hidden, there was nothing to see. The private drivers Red Bull had hired to take them to and from the hotel were discreet and had all signed a NDA. Max wasn't even sure that the driver this morning had noticed anything wrong, with his ears hidden under his normal cap and sunglasses hiding his eyes. He had on a thin zip-up hoodie, just in case, even though it was too hot for it.

He swiped his access card and made his way towards the Red Bull Motorhome through the paddock. He tried to ignore as many people as he possibly could, but nodded towards those he had to. He noticed Martin Brundle head towards him with a microphone, but saw exactly when the man caught himself and turned in another direction. He was thankful for everyone’s discretion, but he also knew that if they happened to meet somewhere private, there would be questions. But they would also be willing to help, would something happen.

He had himself been a part of helping other unfortunate drivers, both big and small mishaps. One of his clearest memories was of Sebastian Vettel growing wings . Which hadn't been as easily hidden, but somehow, somehow they had managed, with a lot of help from every team’s personnel. 

The golden tinged wings had been tightly folded against Sebastians’ back and tied into place for security. Max had been there when they had been untied after the race and Sebastian had almost fainted in relief. Max, Fernando and Kimi had been the ones to almost carry him to privacy after the race, having found him sitting on the ground between two team’s garages, trying in vain with heavily trembling hands to get the zipper of his suit open. He had looked up at them through sweaty bangs and feverish eyes and pleaded with them to get him to his drivers’ room.

The wings were big, bigger than he had thought when he, earlier in the day, had inspected the slight only-visible-if-you-knew-it protrusions under Seb's suit. They helped him out of the suit and carefully pulled his fireproof top over his head. Kimi and Fernando worked on losing the knots to the bandage that was wrapped all around Seb’s chest and back, while Max carefully loosened the medical tape and compress that secured the tips of the wings to where they trailed down the side of his hips, where the bandage was awkward to use. 

Finally unravelled, Seb sank to the floor on his hands and knees and groaned as the wings stretched from his back, covering most of his back, arms and upper thighs. And they were like real bird wings, golden and white feathers gleaming under the ceiling light. Somehow, Max had thought that they would be more like faerie wings - thin and barely visible. Kimi hovered on his knees by Seb’s front and eventually Seb collapsed forwards into his chest, breathing heavily, but with relief visible on his face.

Max and Fernando had left Sebastian slumped in Kimi’s arms, and closed the door behind them, shared a look and a small smile before going their separate ways.

So, Max knew that people would help if needed. But Max had this under control - if others would just leave him alone.

He managed to get to the motorhome easily enough, Checo had materialised with a ‘ good morning’ beside him at one point, quietly but obviously keeping others at a distance while walking. Max relaxed as soon as the doors closed behind them, and only people he knew were present. 

“So..” Checo said, giving him a once over, brows furrowed. “Not very visible, is it?” 

Max gave him a deadpan look through his sunglasses, he knew that the other was taking the piss to get him to show the change. Max lifted his hat with a sigh, the ears popping up in relief with the restriction gone. Checo’s eyes lit up in childish happiness, a broad smile forming on his lips. Max could feel the ears shift from facing mostly forward to the side as people started to gather around.

From the corner of his eye, Max saw Christian come down the stairs from the offices, pausing a second on the way down when he saw Max. GP came down the stairs behind Christian, overtaking him on the way down in his haste to get to Max.

“Maxy!” He stopped in front of Max after elbowing his way through a few engineers, pushing both Checo and Helmut to the side with a big smile on his face. He either didn't see Helmut’s affronted face or he most likely didn't care. “Look at you!” Max had a feeling that his beloved race engineer would say something embarrassing. “You already behaved like a cat before, now it's official.” Yes , there it was and he could already feel the rosy flush on his cheeks, which only worsened when the others snickered good naturedly at the comment.

“I heard there was a tail, too?” Checo said from the side. GP’s eyes flickered down just as Max loosened the tail and it traitorously sneaked directly to GP’s arm.

Max’s shoulders sank in immediate defeat. “Yeah, the tail might be the biggest problem.”

. . . . . . . . 

Christian eventually bullied Max up to an office, and brought GP, Checo and Helmut with him. On the way there, they gathered up Marion, Marko and Rupert, since they would be working closest to Max this weekend. He called David Coulthard also, but he was on the other side of the paddock, stuck doing whatever , so he would have to be debriefed later. He would be good to have out on the paddock later, to play buffer so to speak.

Max sank down into a chair, already tired. He pulled off his sunglasses, hooked them in the collar of his shirt before throwing the hat onto the table and massaging the area where the ears were attached, scratching himself and letting out a huff in satisfaction. He could see both Rupert and GP side eyeing him curiously.

“So, what are we working with?” Christian asked a bit hesitantly, he had faith that it would be workable, otherwise Max wouldn't be here at all. “Ears, tail and…?”

“Eyes, teeth and nails.” Max mumbled. Beside him, Checo straightened before pulling on his arm, trying to look him in the eyes and see for himself. His eyes widened in response when Max’s slitted and golden tinted eyes shifted to look at him, which made the others want to have a look. 

“Oh, that is actually rather fetching,” said GP with a big smile “in a feline kinda way.” Max bared his sharp corner teeth at the man, but he knew that it wouldn't remove the smile from his face, he was afraid that nothing would for quite some time.

Christian turned to Max from where he had been having a telepathy-fuelled argument with Helmut. “What do we need to know, Max?” He leaned on his elbows on the table, ready to help his almost-son.

A big sigh escaped Max, before he started. “The ears can be quite easily hidden, and they’re very flexible so they’ll fit under the helmet, I’m not worried about that. The eyes and teeth will not show unless someone is, like, right up in my face.” 

The others interrupted for a moment to see the nails and teeth, but since they were only a bit sharper than ordinary, they didn't really need a contingency plan for them. “It’s the tail that has a mind of its own.” He paused, and looked down to where it was loosely wrapped around the cool metal leg of his chair. “But luckily, if I keep it wrapped around my waist, it can hardly be seen.” He stood up and demonstrated.

“Is it comfortable like that?” It was Rupert that asked this time, worried about sitting in the cramped race chair for hours in a race.

“Well, not comfortable ,” Max’s nose crinkled in distaste, “but it’s workable. The other option would be to put it down my pant leg, and that’s worse.”

He received understanding nods, and they started their planning. Rupert talked about massages and muscles and painkillers , and while Max tried his best to reassure him; he knew that they would be needed eventually.

Marko went down to the garage and gathered Max’s helmet and the reserve helmets to see if there was anything they could do to make the fit better, while GP went to get a size bigger racing suit and fireproof undershirt, if it was needed. They drew the blinds on the windows and Max spent forty-five minutes trying on everything, until they had found a combination that worked.

They all decided that they would be wearing hats, in case Max needed one, and extra shirts and jackets would be placed in very visible places around the garage. Since they were in Singapore and it was hot, Max hoped that it would really not be needed. The info was then delivered to the other Teams on the grid, as a ‘just in case’, as per protocol. 

Max had hoped that he would get out of the day’s media responsibilities, and he would, just not all of them. Christian said that it would look suspicious if he were not present at all, so he had a scheduled interview with David in half an hour. 

He sat waiting on one of the small sofas in the Red Bull common area, drinking water. The Red Bull didn't taste like it usually did for some reason that Max tried his best to ignore, so water it was. He was in white shorts and an oversize dark blue t-shirt. The t-shirt was longer than he was used to - it also made the neckline a bit bigger, and he shivered at the breeze from the air-con. He had yet to feel any discomfort from the Singaporean heat, he had even contemplated waiting in the outside serving area, but didn't want to have more people looking at him. 

He heard some raised voices and a few stiff greetings from the entrance, and looked up from his phone to see Charles and Carlos making their way inside, their red team colour out of place in the dark blue sea of Red Bull personnel.

“Hi!” Carlos greeted happily as he slumped into a chair opposite of Max. “How you doin’?” 

“I’m fine.” Max smiled at his former team mate and scooted to the side as Charles sat down on the sofa beside him. He felt relief wash over him for the first time since arriving at the circuit this morning. He didn't know that having his friends close like this would ease him so much. He could feel Carlos’ eyes on him however, he was starting to get used to the intrigued stares by now. Before he could even begin to take off his hat and show his ears, his tail started wiggling under the shirt and he had to untuck the side of the shirt for his tail to slink out and wrap around Charles’ lower arm.

Max groaned and buried his flaming face in his hands, leaning on the table. “Fuck, sorry.” He said, before attempting to unhook his tail from Charles. 

“No worries, it’s ok.” The other said with a broad grin, a grin that was matched and doubled on Carlos’ face when he witnessed Max’s defiant tail. “I quite like it, knowing you trust me like this.” Charles said in apparent satisfaction. And what kind of a comment was that? Max’s ears burned and maybe it was Max’s grasp on the English language that was still lacking, but that sounded like-

“Let me see the ears.” Carlos said, luckily interrupting Max’s spiralling thoughts. He removed the cap, and the ears were folded down in what Max knew was embarrassment, but he hoped the others didn't recognise cat-ears-language. He concentrated and felt them rise up into a more normal, front facing, position.

“Do you remember Kimi?” Charles asked, after they had sat talking for a few minutes. “When he had those white cat ears?” 

Yes, Max remembered. It had been memorable, even though he had not had the chance to be near Kimi at the time - but he had heard stories. 

Charles laughed a bit gleefully. “Apparently he also had retractable claws that he couldn't control very well, and they got stuck on everything.” 

Carlos perked up at that. “Yes, I remembered he ended up walking around with gloves, so he wouldn't accidentally rip his clothes or, you know, claw someone.” He turned to Max, pointing at his hands. “It could’ve been worse for you, at least.”

“Hello boys!” A loud voice came from across the room. David Coulthard waved at them enthusiastically, a broad smile on his face. A cameraman followed him silently, Max recognized him, but didn't know his name.

He immediately shoved his hat on his head and yanked his tail from where Charles was stroking it in his lap. Luckily, it wrapped easily back around his waist.

Carlos stood up, motioning for Charles to follow him. “See you later.” They waved as they turned to go, getting stopped by David asking if they didn't want to do a joint interview. They laughed and declined, before leaving Red Bull Hospitality.

David sat in the chair Carlos had vacated, took a look at Max and smiled. “This won’t be difficult at all, you can’t even tell anything’s wrong.” he motioned at Max’s hat and he lifted it for a few seconds before putting it back on again. As everyone else before him, David did a double look when he finally saw Max’s eyes.

“Oh, the eyes might be the biggest problem,” He commented, “but if we angle the camera so it won’t catch the eyes, it’ll work.” Max trusted that they knew what they were doing and followed David’s lead. He mentioned his sunglasses, but David said it would look ‘unprofessional’ and that angling the camera would work just fine.

The interview went without any mishaps, and Max even laughed a bit with David, it was difficult not to - he had a very infectious personality. After an hour or so they said their goodbyes and Max could thankfully seek out the solitude of his driver’s room.

. . . . . . . . 

Thursday night had Checo dragging Max through the lobby of the hotel, the younger man a solid and almost heavy presence beside him. They were alone after having spent an evening at an obligatory Team dinner, deciding to retire earlier than the others. 

Checo had been perfectly happy to take one of the team cars back to the hotel with Max, reassuring Christian and the others that he would take care of Max and even take him all the way to his room. 

Max had snickered at the sound of their conversation, glad that there were no outsiders present. “You make Checo sound like a pimp, delivering me to an anonymous hotel door.” Both Checo and Christian blanched at the implication, gaping at Max where he was wilting limply in a chair on one side of Christian. 

“Max!” Christian sounded a little scandalised, “Stop that!” 

Checo knew that Christian wasn't as used to Max’s crude comments as he was. Checo merely blinked through his initial chock, and rolled his eyes. A few mechanics that sat close enough to overhear snickered before going back to their own conversation; they were also used to his comments, and made worse ones themselves most of the time.

Checo steered him towards the elevator, realising that Max was far too gone and more tired than usual. He figured it was a combination of the magic and the hectic day that had the younger man in a weary stupor. Checo had helped him several times while he was dead drunk, so this really was a breeze. 

In the elevator they stood side by side along the back wall, Checo keeping up a soft stream of words to keep Max awake, talking about the Press Conference earlier that afternoon. Max hadn't been able to wriggle his way out of it - but it had gone surprisingly well. They had sat in the back of the room and thankfully no questions were directed towards Max, though that could have been owed to the glares Checo sent from beside him.

Checo could feel Max tilting to the side, almost leaning on his shoulder until they arrived at their floor. He almost froze when he felt the tail tentatively hooking around his arm, but forced himself to relax. He didn't want Max to realise what he was doing, or he would immediately stand up and remove himself from Checo’s personal space. It was cute, seeing his team mate like this - all relaxed and trusting.

The elevator doors pinged and opened as they arrived at their floor. Max straightened with a huff, but didn't remove the tail from Checo’s arm. He most likely didn't even realise what it was doing. 

“Oh, hi!” Charles and Carlos stood waiting just outside the doors, evidently on their way up to the hotel's rooftop bar, judging by their fancy clothes. The tail wound tighter around Checo’s wrist and he wanted to give a put out sigh when he saw Charles’ eyes zoom in on the movement immediately.

Carlos looked at Max and Checo, eyes big and earnest as usual. “You going to bed?” He had apparently noticed Max’s glassy eyes. “Long day, I guess? Everything work out ok?” His eyes sneaked a quick glance at the tail on Checo’s arm, a small smile on his lips.

“Yes-” Max cleared his throat when he realised that he had to talk, “thank you. Everything went as planned, but I’m really fucking exhausted, I need to sleep.” Checo took a hold of Max’s arm and steered him to the side and into the hallway so they didn't stand blocking the door to the elevator. 

Charles wordlessly followed their movements with dark eyes, looking on the verge of interrupting and helping Max himself. It was not the first time that Checo had sighed over the two oblivious men, and he knew that he was not alone in his slight second hand embarrassment. Maybe this little dose of magic would help them solve their issues. Hopefully , but he wouldn't bet on it.

Carlos stepped inside the elevator with a cheerful “goodbye, sleep well”, dragging Charles after him by the elbow. Max half-assedly waved at them, already turning towards his hotel room further down the hallway. He was plastered onto Checo’s arm completely now - not really leaning, but walking very close to the smaller man, as if looking for warmth.

“I wasn't this tired after Singapore last year.” Max mumbled, and Checo guessed that the tiredness was part of the cat's traits. “What if I’ll be like this on Sunday?”

Checo could tell that Max was worried, something that was unusual for the other driver. He was always self assured and seldom worried at all. It was one of the biggest reasons for the other driver’s success, according to Checo.

“You’ll have to plan in a few naps throughout the day, then.” He replied, trying to sound reassuring and calm.

Max gave a tired but pleased giggle beside him. “Naps.” His head was now leaning on Checo’s shoulder, and Checo tried to act as normal as possible as Max rubbed his head against Checo. Just as Max turned to rub his forehead against Checo’s shoulder, he jumped and took a step away from Checo.

“Oh my God, what am I-” He started in horror, until his eyes locked on the tail still around Checo’s wrist. He pulled loosely on the tail, but it didn't budge. Checo felt absurdly proud of himself. “Checo, I-” He couldn't even continue.

“Max, calm down, it’s ok. You’re ok. ” The wide eyed stare he received told him that the other man was finally on the verge of losing it. Checo had been waiting for this to happen, for the situation to catch up with Max. He turned so that he was standing in front of the younger man, making sure that he kept eye contact. “Give me your keycard.” 

Max fumbled in the pocket of his jeans, breathing heavily through his nose, before shakily handing Checo the white plastic card. “Thank you Max, you’re doing good. Let’s get inside.”

Checo shuffled them both towards the bed where Max’s suitcase lay open, some clothes haphazardly escaping. Checo carefully moved it to the floor, before making Max sit down on the bed. It wasn't until then that the tail loosened around Checo, sweeping back behind Max on the bed, agitatedly flicking back and forth.

Max inhaled loudly through his nose, groaning as he pulled his hands harshly over his face, dislodging and removing the cap in the process. “I cant believe this, this fucking tail is going to be the end of me.” He had calmed down from his earlier panicked state, but his leg was bouncing up and down in what appeared to be newly acquired displeasure. Checo would rather take that over panic any day.

“Max, listen to me.” Checo sat down on the bed beside Max, pulling up a leg under himself and turning towards the other. “No one cares about what the tail does, we all care about you and would never be angry or irritated just because you can't control the tail.” Max looked at him, unsure, eyes wide. “It’s a bit flattering actually.” Checo admitted, smiling crookedly and tried not to comment on the pink creeping up Max’s neck.

“But, they'll tease…” Max said quietly and insecurely, the bouncing in his leg having disappeared as quickly as it came. He was not used to showing affection openly, so the tail making it so very obvious had him on edge all the time throughout the previous days.

“Maybe,” Checo took hold of Max’s hand and shook it pointedly. “but that's all it is. Teasing . With love , because we all know each other so well, and you look cute like this.” 

Max seemed to calm down at that, even though he inevitably reddened further.

“Get some sleep, Max,” Checo said, ruffling the hair between the ears. “It’ll feel better in the morning.” Max’s head tilted towards him and even though Max didn't say anything, Checo understood him. 

They had known each other for so long that he knew when the usually stoic man wanted affection. People often thought that they weren't close; that they didn't like each other because of rivalry in the team, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The amount of evenings they'd spent in hotel rooms, cozied up in couches or beds watching series or playing FIFA…

“Can I?” He asked anyway, to be sure.

“ Please .” Max’s whole body relaxed when Checo brushed his fingers over one ear, marvelling at the softness. He smiled when the younger leaned more heavily on him, upper chest against the front of Checo’s shoulder and head dipped for easy access. He brought his other hand up and scratched carefully with his short nails along the base of the ears. 

“Oh, that feels nice.” Max’s voice sounded groggy and scraggly and Checo almost thought that he was choking before he realised that there were muffled purrs coming from Max. Somewhere deep in his chest, almost not noticeable, but the sounds were rhythmically constant.

He didn't say anything to Max, not wanting to embarrass him any further. He also had a feeling it would be fun to watch others come to the same realisation that he just had.

. . . . . . . . 

FRIDAY

Practice on friday was hot as fuck and Max didn't ever want to experience the feeling of fur that was wet from sweat again. He had thought he would be able to manage the heat better than usual since cats liked heat, but oh how wrong he was.

After finishing the first few practice laps in the afternoon, he practically jumped out of the car and ignored most questions and the strange looks in favour of getting to his driver’s room as quickly as humanly possible. He made sure no cameras were pointing in his direction before pulling the balaclava from his head while still stalking through the garage. A hat was handed to him when passing by a mechanic and he gave a thankful nod though still doing his best to get the hell out of public space.

He itched everywhere, all through his scalp and where his tail was wrapped tight around his waist under his fireproofs. In the same second the door fell closed behind him, his hat was off and he hurriedly pulled down the zipper of his suit. Faster than he ever thought possible, his clothes were off and he was in his small shower. He didn't even want to think about Practice 2 later that evening, that would be a nightmare.

He hadn’t even towelled off completely before there was a knock on his door. Bloody impatient bastards, all of them. Worst of all was Christian who seemed to have forgotten all of Max’s new appendages as practice went on and got on every single one of Max’s nerves.

He wrenched the door open, one hand holding the towel up around his hips. “ What? ” Christian opened his mouth to retort, clearly irritated, but closed it again before shouldering his way past Max into the tiny room. Max could see GP leaning against the hallway wall behind Christian, arms crossed loosely. He seemed calmer, but that was standard for the two men anyway, not a lot made GP show any sort of temper.

Christian appeared to think twice about what to say when he heard Max’s angry voice and saw the pinstripes that were his pupils right now. Max had almost scared himself when he had seen the eyes in the mirror, but he chalked it down to the cold hard focus of practice making the pupils change shape so drastically.

Max closed the door in GP’s face just as he made to step inside along with Christian - he felt petty and unappreciated and this gave him unreasonable levels of satisfaction. 

“How are you Max? I can't begin to understand what you're going through, Max. Can I do anything to make it easier for you, Max” The sarcastic words were said under his breath, but he still made sure that the older man heard him.

“Fine,” Christian said as he sat down on the small sofa, “I might have been a bit too… tough on you.” His face made a strange expression at the word, as if he didn't want to admit to it. His eyes followed Max’s tail as it flicked angrily behind him, still dripping water. 

Max made a pointed effort to ignore him; instead he rummaged in his drawer for a pair of boxers that he pulled on under the towel. He dropped the towel on the floor and pulled on one of the new t-shirts hanging in his closet, a sponsored one with the two red bulls on the back.

Through the frosted glass on the upper part of the door, he could see the silhouette of GP still leaning half-way on the wall beside the door, waiting more patiently than Christian could ever dream of. He huffed through his teeth before pulling the door open, startling his race engineer and making him take a step to the side to compensate for the door disappearing. That alone made Max’s mood shift to the better.

“Max.” GP said calmly, sitting down on the lone chair beside the sofa. “Talk to us, help us understand.”

Max rubbed his face, knowing that he had to. He had driven abysmally, all over the place. While he had still been in the top 10 of the drivers’, it was a far cry from how he usually handled the car.

“It hurts, that’s what's wrong.” He gritted out, much to the surprise of both the others. He knew he had to be honest about this or it could compromise the rest of the weekend. “I didn't think it would hurt, it didn't in the beginning when we did the test laps.”

“What do you mean? What hurts?” Christian asked, leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees. Max could tell he was already calming down. 

“The tail,” Max mumbled, almost embarrassed, “where it’s attached to my back, it’s getting very sensitive and a bit… tender to touch.”

GP immediately nodded. “It's because of the constant friction against your tail and lower back in the driver’s chair, yeah?” 

Max nodded, relieved. “Yeah.” He slowly migrated across the small floor to sit down beside Christian on the sofa, making the other man shuffle to the side to make room for him.

“Let me see.” Max turned to GP aghast. That was the most ridiculous-

“No!” He denied, but could already see GP gearing up for an argument. He leaned even further back on the sofa, which only irritated the base of his spine more. He tried to mask a wince, but he knew that both men could see through him. They both knew him better than even his own dad. His dad liked to pretend that he knew his son, but he hadn't known what Max wanted or needed for years now.

“C’mon Max, let us help you,” GP said, Christian staying tactically quiet. “or do you want us to get someone else?”

Max knew he didn't really have a choice. There wasn't anyone else that he trusted more to help with this kind of problem, except Rupert, but he wasn't here right now. He knew that both of them had basic first aid education, and it was mostly his own embarrassment that stood in the way. “Fine.”

Christian stood up and stepped over to the massage table in the other corner of the room, gesturing for Max.

Max gingerly sat down on the table, a bit self conscious, looking nervously at the door. “Is it locked?” GP took two steps to the door and tried the locked handle, effectively reassuring Max. 

“All right Max, shirt off.” Max gave Christian a glare, one last protest, before pulling the t-shirt over his head. He pulled a leg up on the table and turned to the side so that they could see the red and irritated skin around where the tail protruded. The pants already sat under the tail, but he folded the top lining down for them to better see the area.

“It’s sore,” he said before they could even see, “it hurts and I can feel it all up my spine.” He continued, twisting a bit more, trying to show his back to the others. “The muscles are sore almost up to my shoulderblades.”

GP’s fingers ghosted over the area, Max could hear him hum to himself like he did sometimes. The tail reacted to the touch by swishing to hit GP rather hard in the side. “Sorry.” Max knew it was an involuntary reaction to the touch, it certainly hurt even when not touching. He grabbed the tail and held it in both hands to stop its reaction to their touch.

Christian stepped around and to the side of GP, carefully observing as the other man tested the area with his thumbs. “Could you maybe lay down on your stomach?” 

Max let out a sigh, this really was embarrassing. But he shuffled around until he was on his stomach.

“Do you think we could massage it out?” Max opened his mouth to answer, but realised that Christian was talking to GP. “Or should we put on a cold press?” 

Max shivered at the thought of a cold press, and told them as much. “No cold press please. I think it’ll feel better with a light massage and some painkillers.” He paused for a second. “A warm compress if you have to, but please nothing cold.”

GP seemed to agree with him, lightly pushing around the muscles on his lower back. He tried his best to avoid the area where the fur started, noticing when Max flinched at being touched there. He continued the massage, while Christian pulled out his phone to call someone. He heard him talking about the seat of the car, if it could be altered to fit the tail? His thoughts soon melted into static.

. . . . . . . . 

GP knew that it would work out fine, they had excellent mechanics and engineers and they would work their magic on Max’s car seat.

GP could tell when Max relaxed further into the table, arms hanging down the sides of the table. His face was turned out towards the room and his eyes were closed. The tail had soon slackened and now hung heavy over Max’s thigh and down the side. GP found it quite fascinating, the tail was so sensitive, yet so strong. He had felt how solid it was when it had wrapped around his arm. He hadn’t and wouldn't try it; but he wasn't even sure that he could wrap his hand around the tail where it was its thickest right below the base. He couldn't imagine the soreness of the untrained muscles that were used in Max’s back to move the tail.

He almost faltered in his massage when he heard Max start softly purring. Did he even know that he did it? A big smile stretched on his face as the purrs deepened until they were heavy and rolling through the other’s chest.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Christian was putting his phone back in his pocket, a rather pleased look on his face. They had a plan then.

Christian stopped short just to the side of GP, and pointed to Max with his mouth open. GP smirked back at him. “Yes, he’s purring.” He whispered, not wanting to disturb their dozing World Champion.

He was almost angry that they couldn’t film this, but he knew that they’d find a way to tease him anyway.

. . . . . . . . 

The second practice run that evening went significantly better. The chair had been altered to fit the tail where it protruded and a small indent was made where the tail wrapped up around Max’s waist. It was deemed safe enough by the engineers, it would still support his body efficiently.

The heat didn't get to him as much when he wasn't as crabby and sore and he felt like he actually had a fighting chance.

It was late evening and he sat slumped in an uncomfortable chair just behind two engineers and Gianpiero in front of a sea of screens showing information that he was usually interested in but couldn't currently bring up enough energy to care about. 

He squirmed on the hard seat, before looking around deliberately. There were only a few engineers and mechanics left in the garage, Max counted six at the moment. Christian had disappeared to his office some twenty minutes ago and everyone else had fucked off somewhere, most likely to sleep which Max knew he should also be doing. 

He made sure that he sat hidden enough that he wouldn't be seen from outside the garage before he pushed the suit down a bit on one side of his waist and freed the tail from its cramped place around his waist. 

The sweat from practice had dried what felt like ages ago and he was uncomfortable . He pulled off his hat and tossed it between the two engineers to land on the table, just to the side of the keyboard. The ears were itching and he pushed both hands over and around them and grumbled in satisfaction.

GP jumped when the hat landed almost on his hand, and turned to Max slowly, the others turning just a second after him. He noticed the silence in the garage and knew that he was being watched. But he really couldn't be bothered anymore, the tail felt too good where it swayed lazily below him.

“Right.” was GP’s only reaction before he turned back to one of the screens. Not even a glance down to the tail. 

The others in the garage who hadn't seen his new appendages before were curiously watching him now; those further away even gravitating towards their small gathering.

The younger of the two engineers in front of him turned his chair around to Max. Max liked him, he was a year or two younger than Max, but already very good at his job and easy to talk to.

“That really looks so cool.” He smiled big, two dimples showing in his cheeks and with his dark hair Max was reminded a little of Charles.

“I guess.” Max replied. He knew that it looked rather cool, as it did on all the others that had showed up with animal traits in the previous years. The fascination didn't leave just because it had been seen before. Red Bull hadn’t had an animal incident in a while though. The latest had been when the group of mechanics only could communicate in sheep sounds for two hours one Saturday morning - and while it had been hilarious, it hadn't been nearly as fascinating.

Max noticed that the tail stayed away from both the engineers and the mechanics as they approached, so it clearly had a preference. While he knew them, they weren’t close like he was to Christian or GP or Checo. Or Charles. He had to stop thinking about Charles.

GP was too far away from him, the tail couldn't reach him. Max had resignedly watched it trying. He was relieved though that it wouldn't reach for just anyone that was close. When it had not been able to reach GP, it stayed close to Max and ended up over his own lap when the others came closer.

“Do they feel like- you know, any limb?” A question came from behind him. 

He turned his head and felt his ears shift towards the person behind. “Yes and no,” He admitted reluctantly. “I can feel and control the ears, but the tail I can't control at all.” It was a bit dim in the garage this late and Max was thankful for it since the eyes aren't as noticeable. 

He tried to think of a fitting excuse to leave. He liked all of his team very much, they were all competent people and they did have quite a lot of fun together - but right now he felt tired and a bit vulnerable.

GP came to his rescue in that mind reading moment that they had sometimes. Their eyes locked in their reflection on one of the dark screens above them and after a few seconds he casually turned to Max.

“You should go to bed.” He said, hooking an arm over the back of his seat as he looked at Max. “I want you nice and rested tomorrow.”

Max tried not to look too happy about the excuse, “But I need to know this data, I want to-” 

GP interrupted him. “No Max, you need to sleep or you’ll be all craggy tomorrow and I don't want to deal with that.” He turned back to the screen again, completely dismissing Max’s feeble but made-up protests. He could see two mechanics exchanging smiley knowing looks before they went back to their work.

Max stood up with a groan, “Fine,” he said before gathering up his tail and tucking it inside his shirt, not as carefully as he would otherwise but there was not that any people around the paddock now anyway. He took the cap handed to him by GP. “See you tomorrow then.”

He waved them good night as he walked through the back of the garage and out into the paddock. He ducked into his driver’s room to change out of his suit and gather up his things, but was quickly back out again. 

He tried to keep to the dark of the alleys between the motorhomes, weaving through them to avoid stragglers on his way out. It was a longer walk, but the night air did him good. He knew a Red Bull car was waiting for him at the car park, and for the first time in a while he felt genuinely grateful for the luxury Red Bull was offering.

He had just pulled out his phone and was checking his notifications when he rounded a corner and promptly stumbled over someone sitting against the wall on the other side of the corner. He almost tipped over forward but managed to catch himself in time. His tail pulled itself free in the tumble, trying to help him keep his balance.

What’s this now? He just wanted to get to the exit and to his hotel room in peace.

“I’m so sorry, you ok?” Max turned around and saw a worried Lewis standing up and reaching for him at the same time, as if to stop him from falling. 

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine.” Max straightened and pulled the tail behind himself, but it was already too late, Lewis had of course seen it. It couldn't have been hidden anyway, so he doesn't know why he bothered. The hat lay forgotten on the ground where it had landed a few metres behind him.

“Oh, let me see you.” Lewis said when he saw the ears and tail, as if he had forgotten. 

Max could never get used to Lewis, he was always so reserved and quiet whereas Max was straight forward and often called harsh. They had always been civil to each other though and Max mostly found that he liked Lewis’ calm nature and he respected him a lot.

He saw the other’s eyes roam over his ears and the tail, taking in every move of them, no doubt. Max took a step forward so that he was more in the light from one of the windows of a motorhome. 

A smile spread across Lewis’ face, eyes crinkling. “Max, that’s beautiful.” he whispered, sounding almost in awe. His eyes flickered down to meet Max’s and his breath hitched when he saw the strange otherworldly shimmer in the blue. Max knew what his eyes probably looked like in the light from the window. 

Max could feel himself flushing at Lewis’ compliment, hoping desperately it wouldn’t be seen in the dark. He could deal with Christian, GP and even Charles seeing him blush, but Lewis? Please no.

“Please stop it,” he mumbled, turning halfway away from Lewis, wanting desperately to just leave. 

“But it really is.” Lewis took a step up beside him, a hand landing softly on his forearm. “I like it. Are you leaving the track?” Lewis asked when Max didn't say anything in response to his comment. “Do you want me to walk you to the exit? Do you need help?” He asked, suddenly sounding a bit worried, hand leaving Max’s arm as he took a step so that he was standing in front of Max, studying him intently as if trying to decide if he should help Max.

Max’s tail decided for him when it wrapped around Lewis’ elbow just as he pulled away. Max had thought that they weren’t close enough for his tail to react to the older driver, but what the fuck did he know anyway?

Lewis looked down at the tail around his arm, the shadows almost making it difficult to make out. “ Oh .” he said again, surprised like he almost never seemed to be. He pulled his fingers along the tail and Max had to hide a small shiver, but the tail tightened in reaction and Lewis was entranced for a moment.

Lewis shook himself, seemingly coming back and getting a grip on himself at the same time as Max tried to pry the tail from him. “It’s ok, I don’t mind.”

“Yeah I know, no one minds, but I mind .” Max said to himself, but Lewis heard. He gave a honking laugh and Max at least felt pleased to elicit that reaction from the other driver. Pleased enough that he let the tail be with a huff.

“If you would please walk me to the exit, that’d be great.” Max said with a hint of suffering in his tone, completely done with the day.

Lewis gathered up the bag that Max hadn’t noticed on the ground beside the wall, it looked like he also had been on the way back to his hotel.

“Why were you sitting here anyway?” He asked curiously and had the pleasure of watching Lewis’ cheeks redden. He doubted he would have seen it if he had had his normal human eyes, but he had noticed that these eyes were a bit more sensitive in the dark. 

He would never admit it though, since it would be seen as an advantage over the other drivers. That’s why he didn't comment on Lewis’ red cheeks and burning ears. Instead, as they walked towards the exit, he laughed at Lewis’ obvious fake explanation of having a vape by himself. 

He managed to pull his tail free and tuck it inside his shirt without too much work, but his curiosity about what Lewis was doing was nagging at the back of his mind all weekend.

. . . . . . . . 

SATURDAY

Saturday morning was an experience Max didn't want to repeat. 

He was woken up by Checo knocking loudly on his hotel door. He rolled over in bed and blearily checked his phone; he saw several missed calls and messages from various people. And it was 10.15. Practice starts in like two hours. And then Qualifying, fuck .

He flew up from the bed, duvet tangling around his legs and he almost slipped on a pillow on the floor. He wrenched the door open with his breath in his throat to see Checo worriedly on his phone. He looked up when the door opened and relief was visible on his face.

“He’s awake, thank god.” He said to whomever was on the other end. “I’ll get him on track in half an hour, I promise.” 

He hung up and looked at Max and Max could feel himself crumble under what he imagined was a disappointed gaze. “Christian was worried, Max.” He said while looking him over, making sure nothing was wrong. Max felt blind sided and didn't know what to say. Checo pushed past him into the room, hand rubbing comfortingly over Max’s upper arm on the way.

The fur on Max’s tail, which had puffed up when the knock on the door had woken him, started to go down, but it had instead wrapped firmly around his own upper thigh.

“I-I overslept.” He said, almost to himself. Checo heard him anyway, nodding in understanding before pushing him towards the bathroom.

“Take a shower, brush your teeth,” Checo said. “I’ll pack your things.” He closed the bathroom door behind Max, and the younger was left stunned and disoriented. The shower helped a bit, but he still felt off from waking up so suddenly. 

The disorientation clung to him as they later made their way across the paddock to the hospitality where Christian and GP were no doubt waiting. Luckily, they weren’t stopped on the way, Max just about managed to follow Checo’s back through the people milling about. He kind of wanted to reach out and grab hold of the back of his teammate’s shirt, but refrained, he didn't need to look any more pathetic than he already did, this was not who he was.

After changing into their racing suits in their respective driver’s rooms, they made an attempt to get back to the garage as silently and unnoticeable as possible. Max didn't want to be chewed out by his boss for being late, so he tried his best to make himself invisible behind Checo. They skirted along a few stacks of tires and down a corridor until they emerged in the back of the garage.

The second they stepped inside, GP looked up from the screen in front of him. He had eyes in the back of his head, Max decided resignedly. Maybe the older man had been cursed without saying anything, that would be the most logical explanation.

“Finally!” He exclaimed, making Christian and a few of the mechanics look up from what they were doing. Despite his short tone, his expression changed from worried to relieved, so Max dared step up behind him. GP had already turned back to the screen, clicking on his keyboard and ignoring Max for a second.

“Sorry I’m late.” Max said quietly, heart beating hard in his chest. He had never been late before in his life, and didn't know how the other men would react. His father would say something scathing and mocking and maybe pull him over to the data station by the scruff of his suit, making him revise data as a punishment.

Their silence made Max somehow even more nervous and he could even feel the ears hurting from how tight they were folded down to his head. The tail tightened uncomfortably around his midriff and he protectively held his hands over it.

GP looked back up at him because of course he noticed the unease in the driver’s voice. His eyes locked on Max’s ears and on how uncomfortable they looked, before turning around fully in his chair and standing up in front of Max.

“We were worried,” He said in response to Max’s expression “you didn't answer your phone or any messages, we thought something had happened.” His hands rubbed up and down Max’s shoulders comfortingly, trying to make him relax.

Max deflated a bit. “Oh.” He shifted on his feet. “I’m fine. I- overslept.”

Christian made his way around the table and stopped beside GP, eyes taking in Max’s expression and folded ears. “You’re ok? Really? Nothing’s bothering you with the tail or ears?” 

Max cursed the ears for showing exactly how he was feeling. “No, I’m fine, I just-” He interrupted himself by rubbing at the folded ears and letting out a groan at the pain around the base of them. 

Before either GP or Christian could say anything more or even worse; start cuddling him right there in the garage, a mechanic sneaked up beside them and cleared his throat.

“Eh, there's-” He stuttered when Max turned to look at him, blue eyes gleaming, “well, you have visitors.” He gestured vaguely over his shoulder towards the entrance of the garage.

What? He looked past the mechanics and the car and saw Charles and Carlos standing awkwardly just outside and to the side. Charles waved when he caught Max looking at them.

“Half an hour.” Came from behind him and when he turned around he saw Christian pointing a finger at him and then at the two Ferrari drivers. “Then I want you back here.” Christian turned to GP, both of them ignoring Max.

Max waved Charles and Carlos over, meeting up with them halfway before turning to go to his driver’s room.

“Fuuuck” Max groaned the moment he sank down on his sofa, trying to massage the ache around his ears. He could feel Charles’ gaze on him, but tried not to react. When he looked up, he saw the other man standing with his arms crossed just in front of him, a worried frown wrinkling his eyebrows. 

Carlos had sat down on the sofa beside him, big eyes fixed on Max and Max didn't even need to look to know that his tail had happily crept around Carlos’ back and latched onto his waist.

“What’s wrong?” Carlos asked, trying his best to ignore the tail.

“What’s not wrong?” Max sighed tiredly. “It hurts, the muscles around the ears hurt and my lower back aches like a fucking bitch.” Max usually wasn't one to cry over his pains, but this long dragging ache was having him on the edge of frustrated tears.

“Will you be able to drive?” Charles sounded worried.

“Yes, we’ve come up with some good solutions, but it’s mostly all the new muscles being used that’s bothering me.” Max hoped that taking a painkiller and getting a massage from GP would be enough for the afternoon’s Qualifying. “I can’t imagine what Sebastian went through with his wings that one time.”

“We didn't even get to see his wings.” Charles said a bit disappointedly, looking at Carlos. “We only saw them covered up with a blanket when Lewis, Kimi and Fernando helped him get back to the hotel.” Carlos nodded in agreement, still a bit miffed that he didn't get to see them.

“They were beautiful,” wonder filled Max’s voice at the thought, “but now I know how much they must have pained him.”

“Can we help you in any way?” Carlos' hands were busy stroking the fur on the tail still wrapped around his waist and Max just wanted to tell him to please continue , because that was actually very relaxing.

Charles shifted beside them, “I could give you a head massage?” He asked hesitantly, not knowing how Max would take the offer. But Max was so far beyond embarrassed now, anything to help him would be welcomed.

“ Please .” he mumbled, not seeing Charles swallowing heavily at the whispered answer.

Carlos looked between the two, vaguely rolling his eyes. “Alright Max, let’s move down to sit on the floor in front of the sofa.” He shuffled together with Max down to the floor, the tail switching from holding his waist to laying over his lap and the tip swishing lazily by Carlos’ thigh.

Charles sat on the sofa behind him and Max felt himself tense when he felt the other’s legs on either side of his shoulders. Charles’ fingers started to comb through the hair at the back of Max’s head, going higher each time until they were spread around the cat ears with each pull through his hair.

It only took a few moments for Max to melt back into the sofa, gradually leaning heavier against Charles’ legs as his eyes closed in bliss.

. . . . . . . . 

Charles didn't know what he was doing, why the fuck had he offered to give Max a head massage? He didn't know the first thing about massages, let alone head massages. He got them from his physiotherapist, yes, but he hasn't bothered to learn anything himself. What if there were areas on Max’s head that were extra sensitive because of the ears? What if he made it worse?

He noticed how stiff Max was at first, sitting on the floor with a rigid back and hands clenched together in his own lap. Carlos was busy stroking the tail which lay heavily over his lap; Charles hoped that at least it was a little relaxing for Max.

Max’s hair was soft and a bit long, he obviously hadn't gotten a haircut in a while. Only a few minutes after Charles started carefully pressing with his fingertips around the ears, Max’s head started tipping back and Charles had to redirect his head. He leaned forward a bit and saw that the others’ eyes were closed and his face was relaxed. His shoulders were pressed harder into the sides of Charles’ legs, pushing them apart until one leg brushed against Carlos’ shoulder.

The ears had started to fold down into a more relaxed position, letting Charles’ hands do whatever as they skimmed around the ears and occasionally over them. 

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Carlos all but preening Max’s tail, running his fingers carefully over parts while the other hand held the tail carefully. Max didn't seem to react any more than slumping further down, his neck seemingly losing all its muscles as Charles had to practically hold his head up at the same time as giving the massage.

The comfortable silence was interrupted by small reverberating sounds coming from Max. Both Charles and Carlos stopped what they were doing for a second, before Max tilted his head into Charles’ hands pointedly. 

But he was without mistake purring.

Carlos angled his head to the side, looking closely at Max who looked to have absolutely melted, before looking up at Charles with a prideful smirk on his lips. Charles' legs were still pressed into Max’s shoulders and sides, and he could feel the vibrations multiply over and into his legs. He guessed Carlos could feel it also from the way Max was leaning into his side. 

There was a light knock on the door and Christian carefully opened the door and peeked through the gap. Max’s ears flicked forwards once before relaxing again; he didn't even open his eyes.

Charles locked eyes with him and the older man made a gesture over his shoulder and held up his spread hand to indicate they had to be out in 5 minutes, before silently closing the door behind him. Charles didn't miss the small smirk on his face, though.

Charles nudged Max in the shoulder. “We have to be out in 5 minutes.” 

A stronger purr with a small growl was his answer, Max leaning even more heavily against Carlos. The man took it in stride, laughing a little at how cute and open the man was being, something he would most likely not experience again. He poked Max to help Charles get him up.

Max blinked at him slowly, eyelids droopy over big pupils. Carlos felt a bit unnerved being looked at like that, the golden glow in the iris seemingly extra pronounced. The purring was hitching and becoming softer before disappearing as Max stretched and stood up with a long groan.

Carlos looked back at Charles, planning how to as smoothly as possible get his teammate out of the garage and away from Max. The other’s eyes were fixed on Max’s back, on where his pants hung low on his hips, just under the tail. He looked like he wanted to touch and Carlos interrupted his gaze by standing between the two men. 

“We have to go now.” He said to Max, waving his hand pointedly behind himself, hitting Charles on the forehead, so the other man would wake up from his stupor.

Max turned around with a hand on the door handle. “Thanks for this”. His voice was raspy, but calm with an almost sated quality to it. 

“Anytime!” Carlos pulled on Charles’ arm until they were out the door and in the corridor. “Just glad we could help”. Max walked lazily behind them through the garage, Carlos almost didn't notice when the tail disappeared under his shirt - and he didn't really understand how the cap could hide his ears so well.

Charles was still quiet when they arrived outside the garage and out on the pitlane. Carlos rolled his eyes before pinching his team mate in the side. 

Max looked at Charles and smiled one of his broad eye-crinkling smiles. “Thanks for the massage.” he said quietly and Carlos had to once again watch as the other man went red in the face over something Max had said. 

“No worries!” Charles said a bit too loudly. “We’ll just- just go now.” With a wave of his hand, he half-turned in the direction of their own garage. “See you later.”

Carlos accidentally locked eyes with Christian over Max's shoulder and a few metres away. They shared a commiserating look, both having to deal with Max and Charles oblivious flirting.

. . . . . . . . 

The last practice went over expectations and they managed to iron out some question marks about the seat. 

Qualifying went as well as could be expected. He was P7, with Lando and Charles starting in the front line. Not as bad as it could have been, but far from satisfactory. There were predictions of rain tomorrow for the race, and while his new cat-side didn't particularly like the rain, Max knew that he could out-drive most of the others.

The afternoon was thankfully empty of any schedule, and Max didn't know or care what his team had had to do to make it so. He would have to buy them all something nice. 

He sat some time with the team, going through last minute settings in preparations for the race the next day, with a small discussion about his seat and helmet. They had both felt fine through Qualifying, but he was still sore and GP scheduled a more thorough massage for after lunchtime the next day, hoping to prevent muscle spasms in the actual race.

He changed in his driver’s room, prepared to make his way directly to his hotel room to eat and sleep. That sounded lovely, the soft bed calling him already.

He had just stepped outside the paddock and on the way to where his personal driver was waiting when he heard someone shouting his name from behind. Charles came jogging, a smile in place making his cheeks dimple. 

“You going to the hotel, you need help?” He asked a bit out of breath, casting a glance around the parking area in case fans or media had gathered. He had changed out of team merch and wore his standard baggy jeans and a light blue t-shirt that matched very well with his tan.

Max’s first thought was to deny help, but he was exhausted and when thinking twice he knew that some help to hide his extra appendages on the way to the hotel would be appreciated.

“I-sure, if that’s ok?” He turned around and started walking, pulling his own gaze away from how the t-shirt perfectly hugged Charles’ upper body. 

“Of course!” Charles took a quick step up beside him so they walked side by side, effectively blocking the view of Max from where a few fans stood just outside the barricade. “We’re at the same hotel anyway, so.” He laughed his little embarrassed laugh, shoulders shrugging. 

He got into the car after Max and they soon fell into talking about the race and before he knew it they were standing in front of the door to his hotel room and Charles seemed a bit surprised.

“Oh-” He looked up and down the corridor as if it would help him understand how he had gotten there. “I think I’m a floor down or something.”

“Right.” Max unlocked his door, before turning back to Charles, weighing back and forth on his feet. “Do you maybe- eh, want to come in?” He could feel the blush rising from his neck and up to cover his ears.

“Yes, sure.” Charles said.

Why, why, why had he asked that? Max had gone through all possible scenarios in his head on the way to his hotel room and none of them involved inviting Charles inside. His mouth had yapped before his brain could stop it and now he was stuck alone with Charles. Normally that wouldn't be such a big problem, but with the way his tail behaved around the other man, he knew that he would have to be careful.

His small crush on Charles had been ignored for so long that he had learned to live with it and it didn't bother him more than the occasional longing pang in his chest and sometimes a heated burn low in his belly. Sometimes he could go months without thinking about it and then other times Charles would be on his mind every day and those times were exhausting. 

The tail seemed to be on the daily schedule in terms of reaction.

Max toed off his shoes just inside the door and Charles did the same, before he looked around the room. The atmosphere was a bit awkward and Max took a fortifying breath before trying to act casual.

“I’m gonna order some food, have you eaten?” He asked as he opened up the delivery app. 

Charles shook his head. “I haven’t, I could definitely eat right now.” He smiled his ordinary dimpled smile and Max relaxed.

After Max had ordered, they sat down on the sofa that filled one end of the room. Max had gotten them both bottles of cold water from the mini fridge in the corner by the door, and the condensation from the bottles made his hands clammy. He squirmed silently in discomfort and wiped his hands on his pants when he felt the tail start to unlock from his waist and emerge from under his shirt. He tried to keep it quietly in his hands, but out of the corner of his eyes he could see Charles’ gaze directed at the tail.

“I’ll just- eh, change into something more comfortable, ok?” Charles nodded, still looking at him with a small smile.

Max hastily gathered his usual shorts and an oversize t-shirt from where his suitcase lay open on the bed and headed to the bathroom to change. 

. . . . . . . . .

Charles wiped his hands down the sides of his t-shirt, rolling his eyes at himself and how nervous he suddenly was being alone with Max. He usually didn't have a problem with it, and it wasn't a problem exactly, but he knew how he reacted to the tail and the ears. It was embarrassing to get so engrossed and zone out looking at Max’s new additions, wanting so badly to touch . He had always been a touchy sort of person, very physical in his affections, but this was ridiculous.

As a distraction, he looked more closely around the room while Max changed. The decor was mostly the same as his own room, however this room was clearly more expensive. Charles didn't have a sofa in his room, only the double bed and a sitting area with a desk. Perks of being a World Champion. Max’s clothes spilled out from the suitcase and onto the bed, messy and mostly dark blue Red Bull colors, with splashes of orange and black. A small toilet bag sat on the bedside table, half open. 

The door to the bathroom opened and Charles had to avoid looking that way out of instinct. He looked desperately at his phone while Max lingered by the bedside table pulling something from the toiletry bag. Soon enough Max sat back down beside him on the sofa with a sigh. Charles turned to him just as he tossed a pill into his mouth and swallowed it with a few gulps of water.

“Are you still hurting?” The question was out from him before he could stop himself, concern building like a snowball in the back of his mind.

Max stretched and twisted his spine from side to side while pushing his thumbs into his lower back like Charles had seen him do before. “Yes, but not as bad as earlier.” Max closed his eyes and groaned quietly. “It’s just that it’s always there , the painkillers help but not completely.”

Charles guessed that it would take quite some time before the muscles got used and were sufficiently trained for the tail; since it was so new Max would be in pain for quite some time yet. Most likely the curse would be gone before ever he got used to it.

The tail was hanging limp beside Max on the sofa and Charles marvelled at how long it was, something he had overlooked before. When standing it would reach past Max’s ankles, just brushing the floor, if hanging straight down. It wasn't usually so relaxed as to hang straight down though, always either hidden under Max’s shirt or swaying around him on its own.

“Do you want a back massage?” For fuck’s sake , that did not just slip out of him. He could feel his hands getting clammy, so he hid them under his thighs.

Max turned to him, sharp eyes honed in on Charles instantly and a bit unnervingly. Charles couldn't look away so he didn't miss the way that the pupils dilated slightly, the golden blue getting partly swallowed by black depths. The ears were standing straight up, also focused on him and Charles could feel himself getting redder under the scrutiny.

“I mean, if-” he cleared his throat, suddenly his tongue was feeling a bit too big and too dry. “If you want to.” 

A bit of pink emerged high on Max’s cheeks and Charles felt like he knew the answer before the other could say anything. The ears relaxed, but stayed locked in his direction and the tip of tail was starting to flicker interestedly back and forth between them.

“That would be lovely.” Max said finally, after a moment's hesitation. Like a cord had been cut with the admission, he seemed to deflate in relief - like he didn't need to pretend in front of Charles anymore. “GP gave me a massage yesterday, but it mostly helps for the moment.”

Charles nodded his head in sympathy even though he wasn't really listening, he was busy thinking about his hands on Max, on his skin oh god what had he done why-

“On the bed or-” Max had stood up and was holding his tail a bit tensely, looking between the bed and the sofa. “Or the sofa?”

Charles floundered for a second before pressing out a surprisingly steady “Bed”, impressed with himself for not showing his nervousness. He tried to give himself a pep-talk as he rose from the sofa - he had known Max forever, he had given him a head massage, they were friends and there was nothing strange about giving a friend a massage, nothing at all.

Max shoved the suitcase to the floor and pulled the dark bedcover up from where it had haphazardly been pushed down throughout the night. Charles watched as he unsteadily climbed onto the bed and sat down in the middle.

“There’s massage oil in my bag.” Max said and pointed at the backpack sitting on the floor by the door. “GP gave it to me after he massaged me.” He hurriedly explained, obviously needing an excuse even though it was most likely true. “He said that I could maybe ask Checo to give me a massage this evening if I needed to.”

Charles opened the zipper on Max’s usual Paddock-bag and tried his best not to look at what else was in the bag, he didn't want to be nosy. Checo . Charles was suddenly happy that he had followed Max to the hotel. What if he had missed this opportunity? And he would not be acting strange about it. He would act so normal that Max would have no choice but to also act normal.

When he turned back to the bed, Max had laid down on his stomach, but his face was turned towards Charles, eyes cautious but hopeful. 

Alright. He could be normal about this.

He sat down beside Max’s hip, and put the bottle of oil beside him on the bedcovers. “What should I know?” He asked as he pushed Max’s t-shirt up from the base of the tail until it was bunched around his ribs.

“Eh-” Max squirmed around a little. “The base is sensitive, where the fur starts. It doesn't hurt to touch, but it’s a bit- twitchy, I suppose?” Max gave a small huff of a laugh, he was obviously trying to joke his way through his nerves and Charles couldn't help but smile.

“Ok, that’s good to know. But can I touch it? Or should I massage around it?” 

The answer took a few moments to come. “You can touch it.” Max was obviously embarrassed and his voice was getting smaller, almost hidden in the pillow. “But I don’t know how I’ll react.”

“That’s alright, tell me to stop and I will.” Charles would be so fucking normal about this.

He swung a leg over Max’s thighs and the tail immediately wrapped around his waist. It was heavy and strong, almost holding him in place. 

He could hear Max grumble into the pillow. “For fuck’s sake, I’m so sorry.” Charles could see his fists clenching slightly into the pillow by his head.

“Max. It’s fine.” Charles occupied himself with folding down the lining of Max’s shorts, so that it sat snugly a bit under the base of the tail. He tried not to feel too smug about the tail, but it felt quite nice and he was a bit proud for getting such a reaction from Max, even though it was an unconscious one. Maybe especially because it was an unconscious action of the tail.

Charles took deep breaths as he poured some oil into his hands and spread it over Max’s back and carefully around the tail. He immediately noticed that the muscles around the tail were tense and hard, and he tried to imagine how they must hurt. He spent a few minutes testing different areas and when Max didn’t do anything except give a few miniscule flinches, he felt bold enough to press deeper. 

He put a bit more pressure in his palms and ran them from beside the tail up along the spine, spreading the oil. The groan that move pulled from Max was as satisfying as it was arousing and Charles had to act normal . 

He repeated the move several times, until the shirt was bunched up around Max’s armpits. He reluctantly stopped and pulled at it pointedly. “You should probably take this off, no?” 

Without a word, Max twisted to pull it over his head, and Charles was presented with the whole of Max's naked back. His shoulders were wide, deceivingly so when hidden under his shirts. Charles ran his hands up Max’s spine again and pushed up along the back of his neck before going back down again. Max’s head tilted down into the bed and Charles got the hint and pushed his fingers into the neck muscles, briefly pushing up into the hair at the base of his skull. 

Max released a huff of air into the pillow, and relaxed further. Charles felt a streak of pride at getting to see Max like this, like no one else would see him. The pale skin on display only for him - hard muscles hidden beneath a soft but very misleading layer of fat.

His thumbs dug beside the spine, from the neck and down until where the fur started around the tail. He hesitated for a second before pushing with a lighter hand from around the base of the tail and outwards towards Max’s flank. He repeated the movement when there was no visible protest from Max, working meticulously on the tense muscles around the base.

There hung a silence between them, comfortable and calm with the sounds from the air-conditioner in the background and their breaths ebbing and flowing naturally. Max had been purring for the last couple of minutes and Charles could feel the vibrations through his back - it was rather surreal if he gave two thoughts about it.

Charles didn't want to stop, but he had been massaging for a good twenty minutes and Max hadn't moved at all in the last ten minutes. The tail had slackened and lay loose behind Charles and up beside his leg.

He leaned back slightly, sitting down more heavily on Max’s lower thighs, hands still rubbing softly over his lower back, but slowing gradually until he tapped the skin beside the tail twice and let out a slow breath to alert Max that he was stopping.

The only visible eye from where Max’s head was buried in the pillow opened slowly, while the purring lessened gradually. Charles could see the moment he blinked into awareness, the eye flicking back towards Charles. A big black pupil looked steadily back at him, with only a sliver of blue around. 

Max moved his head and pulled his arms under himself to lift his upper body so that he could slightly turn towards Charles. He didn't say anything, but Charles didn't think that he needed to, really. He thought that they had been on the same page for some time now.

He leaned forwards slowly, pausing halfway down to give Max a chance to back out if he wanted. But Max’s gaze was sure and steady on Charles, something like a smile curling at his mouth. Charles leaned in the last bit and planted a soft kiss just on the edge of Max’s lips, the angle too awkward for anything else. His heart pounded in his chest, but when he pulled back, Max’s smile was blinding and now his heart was pounding for another reason. Would this finally happen?

He rose up on his knees when Max started to shuffle around to his back under him. He sat back down again, meeting Max’s smile with an equally big one, hands splayed on the others’ sides. Max tugged on his arm, pulling him closer and Charles didn't want to stop, but he did have to make sure . 

“You sure?” Max consciously aborted an eyeroll and Charles smiled in relief.

“Yes, Charles.” Max’s hand pulled on Charles’ arm again, pointedly. “Please, kiss me.”

He leaned down and this kiss was a real one, soft but open. None of them were shy though, so when Max’s tongue flicked over Charles’ lips, he reciprocated happily. Max arched up into him, so that their chests met briefly, making a breath escape Charles unexpectedly. His hands moved from Max’s sides, up to his shoulders and carefully ghosted along his neck to stop just under his ears, fingers digging into the long hair there. He both heard and felt Max moan into his kiss, and the satisfaction coursing through him seemingly had no end.

He pulled back when he felt the tail curl around his waist, possessively and insistently, and he almost missed Max’s hands on his thighs. Max looked up at him, red cheeks and a small smile still on his lips. The ears were relaxed and Charles could feel his breath catch as he took in the sight below him. How he had dreamt of this moment. For so long.

“Max, I-” He had to lean down and put a kiss on Max’s lips before continuing. “I don’t know exactly what we’re doing, but I want this. I like this.” He laughed a little. “I like it a lot.”

Max laughed with him, creases appearing around his eyes. “Me too.” He said a bit breathlessly. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long.” The gold in his eyes seemed to shine a shade lighter and Charles’ breath hitched again, unexpectedly overwhelmed by the awe of having that gaze focused on him only.

. . . . . . . . 

SUNDAY

Charles woke up by his alarm, too early the next morning. Max halfway on top of him, head and upper body pillowed on top of Charles and their legs tangled under the covers. He had an arm around Max’s back and the hand moved unconsciously up until it was caressing the ears and the soft fur on them. Max clung to him in sleep, arms and legs holding Charles in place. Even the tail was wrapped down Charles’ leg, actually a bit uncomfortable now that he was awake.

Morning. Oh shit. They had to get up. They had a race. He had seven missed calls from Carlos and a few from others he didn't dare think about. He clicked the call button to Carlos and tried in vain to untangle himself from Max. 

“Where the fuck are you?” Came Carlos’ nervous voice, not even saying hello. 

“I overslept, fuck” He pulled at Max’s hand but froze when he could feel claws digging into his side over his t-shirt and looked in disbelief at the still sleeping man. “I’m on my way, I’ll be there in thirty”. He hung up before Carlos could say anything else, sparing himself any lectures.

“Max, wake up, we’re late” He shook the other’s shoulder. “Max!” 

Max turned over with a deep chirp-like sound, like an aborted purr, eyes still closed and ears relaxed. He probably hadn’t registered anything that Charles had said. 

“Wake up.” Charles had managed to dislodge himself from Max’s human limbs, but the tail still clung and he didn't know how much he could pull at it, or if at all. He tried pushing instead, from his thigh and down his shin until it eventually disengaged around his foot. When he was finally up from the bed he turned back around and was met with Max looking at him calmly, the sunrise making his eyes shine a golden blue hue that Charles had never seen before. He faltered in his steps, leaning back towards the bed and he had a knee on the bed before he caught himself.

“C’mon Max, we need to go!” He pulled at Max’s hand and that finally got the others’ attention. He looked out the window a bit questioningly, before sitting up abruptly.

“What time is it?” He asked, eyes widening with every breath he took.

“Too late”. Charles turned towards the sofa, where his bag lay. “We need to go.”

With a muffled curse, Max was up and past him towards the bathroom before Charles had even made it to his bag, he just had time to see the tail all puffed up and standing practically straight out from Max’s body. He heard the water running and it only took a short minute and a half for Max to emerge dripping wet and still slightly panicked, towel precariously held around himself. 

Charles had stopped to amusedly watch as Max dove to his knees before his suitcase, pulling out god-knows-what, some too big black t-shirt that he pulled over his head. Charles turned around to locate his shorts on the sofa and pulled them on over his boxers. 

“You’re not going to take a shower?” Max asked and when Charles turned around to him he had managed to change into a pair of beige shorts that Charles had never seen before.

“I am not taking a two minute shower.” He said a bit fake-snippily, rolling his eyes. “I’ll take a shower in my driver’s room later.”

Max stood still watching him from in front of the bed and the sunrise shone magically behind him. The tail was swishing beside him and the ears were turned towards Charles. He felt something squeeze inside at the thought that this was his now. He could just walk up to the other man now, and kiss him. So he did.

“Good luck on the race today.” He said quietly against Max’s lips. He kissed away the smile that emerged at the comment. 

They hadn't had a very long conversation about what they were to each other, but they were on the same page at least - to try this new thing. Slow and with dates in between race weekends in the beginning. Charles could taste the sweetness in his mouth at the thought.

“Give me a good race.” Max said quietly but with a smirk, a hand holding on to Charles’ shirt.

“Oh, you know I will.” He replied with a laugh and pulled Max closer to himself, molding easily against the other, kissing him heatedly. He felt the way Max melted into the embrace, soft and malleable and it made the embers in his stomach burn. He had to pull away first, even though he absolutely didn't want to. Max’s dazed eyes followed his moves as he stepped back.

“See you later, I’ll leave first.” He pecked Max on the cheek before he picked up his bag and left the room without looking back; otherwise he would never get to the track.

He closed the door behind himself and didn't hear Max’s panicked fuck fuck fuck echo through the room as he started running around to pick up his things and throwing them into his bag.

. . . . . . . . 

Afterwards Max would say that the race went by in a haze. It was hot, wet and humid and he had sweat running down his face and into his eyes. And he can't remember a time when he raced so hard . When it was so difficult just to hold on to the front of the grid. He weaved back and forth between cars and somewhere around lap 40 he could catch his breath and had time for a drink behind a safety car. He heard GP telling him what happened, and as soon as he registered that whoever was safe, he tuned the other man out - using all his concentration to keep the car where he wanted it and gearing up for the end of the safety car.

In the end he finished P3, better than he thought possible in his current state. He pulled into parc fermé and had to lean his head back and close his eyes for a moment, how would he even get out of the car? His entire back complained at him, stiff and burning as the muscles pulled on either side of his lower spine. He disconnected the steering wheel and barely managed to place it on top of the car.

Someone must have seen him struggling because there were soon hands trying to help him up. He caught himself hissing at a poor mechanic holding on to his arm, but thankfully the man wasn't scared and silently continued to help him. He was wet both from the rain and from sweat, but his heart hammered with pride and joy. With the visor of his helmet finally up, he saw Steven by his side, one of his lead mechanics.

As he took his first few stiff steps outside of the car, still a bit hunched over with Steven’s arms around him, he could see eyes on him, carefully assessing his stiff joints. Both GP and Christian were standing side by side on the other side of the fence, pride clearly visible, but also a hint of worry. 

Max leaned heavily against Steven as they made their way to the fence and the waiting arms of his team. He felt himself being pulled halfway over the fence with hugs and congratulatory pats all over his body, and he pushed his still helmet-clad head in the closest neck he could find, taking deliberate deep breaths to keep the tears in his eyes and to not run down his cheeks.

The time between the arms of his team and the cooldown room was a blur. He found a corner to pull his helmet off and quickly push a cap down on his head, got weighed, unzipped the top of his racing suit and was eventually pulled by the arm by Lando through the corridor to the cooldown room. It wasn't until he was inside the room and looking at the tv-screens that he realised that Charles had actually finished P1, the fucking beautiful bastard. He wasn't here yet, still busy with first-place dealings.

Lando stopped the cameras from following them inside, and they actually accepted it without too much protest. Max was sooo thankful as he immediately sank down cross legged on the floor and pulled his arms out of his suit and rolled the undershirt up to pull out his poor tail. The fur was matted with sweat and it stiffly unwound, something like pins and needles working through it.

“Sometimes, I really don't understand how you drive.” Lando said matter-of-fact from where he sat sipping water in his chair. “How did you manage P3 from P7, and with your extra appendages?”

Max looked up at him from under his damp fringe, trying in vain to stretch out his back. “Honestly, I have no idea this time.” He pushed himself onto his knees and bent as far forwards as he could over them, almost tasting the relief. “I blanked out somewhere in the middle of the race and can't really remember the end of it.”

Lando huffed a laugh. “Same.”

. . . . . . . . 

The celebrations were short lived this time. Everyone could see that Max was in no shape to entertain them all today and they called it a day sooner than usual. Charles had given him a short but tight congratulatory hug just after the podium, but they had both been swept away afterwards and not seen each other at all after that. Charles had quickly held up his hand in a ‘call me’ -sign and given Max a big dimpled smile before he disappeared in a group of red.

GP and Christian had detached themselves from the celebrations when they saw Max’s eyes almost slipping close while he stood beside them at the corner of the bar. Max was not actually leaning against GP, but it was a close thing. He heard Christian saying goodbye to the others behind him and Max made an almost-turn and gave a wave back as GP moved them towards the exit. They had easily gotten him to their hotel; Max felt a bit like a child being hurdled by their parents.

He hadn't really drank that much, just one or two beers - he was mostly just tired and in pain. GP had slipped him a painkiller before they left the track a few hours earlier, and Max could feel it trying to work. It had dulled the most extreme muscle pains, but not all. 

“Here Max.” GP held out another pill to Max, who had just come out of the bathroom, ready for bed. “Take this and go to sleep.”

Christian stood bent over Max’s suitcase on the other end of the room, neatly putting out clothes for Max to wear tomorrow. A black t-shirt, a Red bull-hoodie and a pair of shorts were put on the back of the sofa, along with underwear, socks and his cap. He was really being  gentle-parented right now and he did not have an ounce of mind to protest it.

He fell into bed and was not aware of anything until his alarm rang the next morning. 

. . . . . . . . 

Max was exhausted . He can't recall the last time he felt such bone deep tiredness, like his head hurt from the depths of his hair follicles and the muscles on his feet twinged as soon as he moved them. He had sunk down into one of the plane seats gratefully when they had boarded half an hour ago. Charles sat beside him and Lando and Carlos were in the seats opposite. The three were talking quietly amongst themselves, not involving Max - like they could sense that he would not be able to even open his mouth to talk. He was already on the verge of falling asleep, pillow ready behind his head and blanket laid out over his lap. He just had to wait until they were up at cruising level, then he could finally sleep .

. . . . . . . . 

Lando looked up from his phone for a moment, the plane was quiet, dark and the humming of the engines was acting soothing after the hectic weekend. He had caught himself almost nodding off several times while scrolling his socials, so he thought he could get some sleep.

Charles across from him was sleeping, head leaned back and mouth open. So was Max, curled up in his seat with his head cushioned on a pillow on Charles’ shoulder. He was deeply asleep, head lolling forwards and one arm hanging uncomfortable down between their seats. And his cat ears were gone.

Lando sat up a bit straighter, blinking to double check that he was seeing correctly. He pushed his elbow carefully into Carlos’ side, hushing him when he jumped and grumbled. “Is Max’s ears gone?” He whispered, pointing over to their friend. 

Carlos took a second to react, before looking from Lando to Max. He straightened in a jerk, leaning forwards a bit. The lighting was dim, but the ears were clearly gone. “Yes, they’re gone.” The ears had seemingly been absorbed back into Max’s head, not leaving any trace behind. “How did we not notice?” 

Lando shrugged, not really that concerned. The change back had obviously not bothered Max enough to wake him, so it automatically didn’t bother Lando. But there was one thing that did bother him.

“Do you think something happened between them?” He whispered to Carlos, leaning closer, talking as quietly as he could, not wanting to be overheard. “They seem- closer almost.”

“If it did, it really was about time.” The other whispered back, an amused tint to his voice. “Have you not seen their pining?” Carlos pulled up his phone and took a photo of their two sleeping friends, before sending it in the driver’s chat with a satisfied smirk. It was a cute picture, although not really a flattering one.

Lando had seen them looking at each other a bit more than strictly normal, but it had only been recently that he had started questioning it. He nodded to himself, not his business, but he would be happy for them if it turned out to be true. He leaned back into his seat and pulled his legs up underneath himself and pulled the blanket up to take a nap. There were still a few hours until they landed. His gaze was blurrily set on Max and Charles across from him, and he soon fell asleep with a content smile on his face.

END

“I do not have a fur-kink!” Charles said exasperated, almost yelling. Max sent Charles a knowing look over his glasses and he wanted so badly to ignore him. “I don’t!” 

“Sure.” Max turned back to his phone. “Whatever you say.”

He didn't. Really. He had to leave the living room he thought and got up from the armchair and stomped into the kitchen.

Max had recently gotten glasses to use at home when reading, and he could admit that that might have become a kink, but who could blame him? For real, he needed Max out of sight, like right now.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of The F1 Curse