sysakiddo

[sysakiddo]

And they did to me what I wouldn’t do to anyone. And they did to me what I would do to ANYONE. And they did to me what I wouldn’t—

[sysakiddo]

26. library books stacked on a nightstand please 🫶🏼🐝🤭✨

August Prompts

Maxiel | 3.1K (there's honestly no plot in all these words but we ball)

Vettel’s Restaurant is tucked away between a run-down hardware store and a shitty comedy club where Daniel and his co-workers have spent many a night getting drunk and daring each other to take the stage.

Co-workers, of course, being a relative term. Daniel’s not necessarily in on whatever scheme Seb runs that he needs to launder money through, but he’s not totally brain dead. He’s not getting paid this well to serve two customers a day, mostly confused tourists who wandered in by accident. When he’s the only one working, he goes to the back and dumps frozen food in the air fryer sitting atop the industrial stoves legit enough that the kitchen raises no red flags to whatever authorities may come sniffing.

Often, the offices at the back of the restaurant is a decent hub of activity. He supposes it serves as some kind of headquarters for Seb’s criminal enterprise, but it’s not what Daniel would expect from watching mafia movies. They’re all pretty normal guys, and they’re happy to shoot the shit with Daniel. As long as he doesn’t ask any questions, he earns enough to pay LA rent with plenty of leftover free time to film dirt bike videos. It’s a sick gig, really.

In the year and a half that Daniel’s worked there, they’ve never had a repeat customer. The food is trash, the location is inconvenient, it’s cash only, and they overcharge just to ensure no one ever wants to come back.

Thus, when Daniel stumbles in hungover and is attacked by a frantic Kimi, he figures the emergency must be that their cover is busted. The feds must be closing in. Daniel is going to get like, waterboarded by the CIA, and definitely deported if he’s lucky enough to escape a prison sentence. It’s unfair, he wants to protest, because it’s not like he knows anything for real. He has W4s for the taxes he pays on a legitimate visa. He didn’t do anything wrong.

“This guy came in yesterday,” Kimi hisses, jabbing his thumb at the guy slumped over a laptop at a corner table. It’s difficult to make out any defining features, but Daniel can tell from the angle of his cheekbones and the scruffy blond-brown hair that he’s definitely, 100% a certified hottie.

“How does he have our wifi?” he asks.

Kimi’s face flushes, and he averts his panicked eyes to the floor. “I gave it to him.”

Very, very carefully, Daniel swallows his admonishment. Never give them a reason to come back, he wants to say, and certainly don’t give them access to our internet, as if Kimi doesn’t know. He’s a high schooler trying to help support his family. It’s not like he has a guidebook to working for a money laundering front anymore than Daniel does, and he clearly knows he’s fucked up.

“Well,” Daniel says after a pause. “Not ideal.”

“I’ll tell Seb,” Kimi says, eager to rectify his error. Seb does need to know. They have no clue who this guy is and what he could do with the in on their wifi. Not that anyone here is dumb enough to do sketchy things on the restaurant wifi, but it seems pertinent to inform someone.

Still, Daniel can at least try and sus out this stranger’s intentions first.

“Let me talk to this guy,” he tells Kimi. “You just hang in the back, alright?”

He doesn’t have to tell Kimi twice. He eagerly darts away, and Daniel makes his way across the small restaurant to plop down in the open chair across from the guy.

The customer lifts his head from the laptop and Daniel bites down hard on his lip to keep from squeaking. Above dark bags are pretty blue eyes and long lashes. He’s got a freckle decorating a plush upper lip. He’s sporting a wrinkled white t-shirt, small enough that Daniel can admire broad shoulders and the way the fabric perfectly cups a slightly protruding chest.

“Hi?” the guy says. Daniel reaches a hand out over the half-eaten plate of cheap chicken tenders and offers up his most winning smile.

“I’m Daniel. I work here.”

“Max.”

Max politely takes his hand and shakes it. He's got very nice fingers, Daniel notes. Long, clean, clipped. He didn't know fingers could be so hot. When he goes to remove himself from Daniel's grip, Daniel squeezes slightly and continues talking. “How’s the food, Max?”

Max raises his eyebrows slightly and smiles playfully. “Shit.”

Daniel throws his head back and laughs at the blunt honesty. “True, Max. True. What brought you back, then?”

Max gestures around the completely empty restaurant. “I’m trying to finish an essay, and nobody in the library knows what a quiet floor means.”

Daniel re-assesses his guess on Max’s approximate age. He thought maybe 25 or so, just a few years younger than Daniel.

“Grad student?”

“Just started the last year of my bachelor’s degree.”

Probably around 22, then. Old enough. Max has a cute little accent Daniel can’t place, but he thinks Max probably doesn’t feel like entertaining all the questions Daniel has for him right now.

“Well,” Daniel says after a pause. “I’ll let you have your quiet, and maybe find you something a little nicer to eat.”

Max scans him up and down when Daniel stands, then pulls his lips into a smirk. “Do that, and I might come back.”

It should scare Daniel off. He’ll probably lose his job if he lets Max step foot in here for a third day.

“Counting on it,” he says instead, and disappears to the back to talk Kimi down from a ledge.

Max Verstappen is a very real university student with zero ties to the US government, Daniel is assured later that night.

It’s not his business, not unless they tell him to keep Max away, and the way Seb looks at him with knowing eyes tells him he won’t make Daniel turn him away. He has no idea what Kimi said to Seb, but he thinks of Max’s light stubble and the shape of his waist. Whatever story Kimi landed on, he’s more than fine with it.

__________

Max isn’t stupid.

His boyfriend is definitely involved in something highly shady. He doesn’t actually think they have Daniel doing any dirty work, but his rent isn’t covered through legitimate money. The restaurant doesn’t even attempt to pass itself off as real. The first time he went, he asked for a menu and the boy he now knows to be Kimi said, “Think of what you can find in a freezer aisle and pick something.”

Since the day Daniel had walked over, the meals had drastically improved. Slowly, as he came back and the longer he went out with Daniel, he was served entrees based off real recipes.

Max had graciously averted his eyes the first time he came over and saw a stack of library books on Daniel’s crowded nightstand next to three empty Red Bulls. It contained titles like Cooking for Dummies and books that definitely produced the recipes full of burnt food and Daniel’s genuine best efforts. Max had been taken to the back more than once for a quickie. He saw the industrial oven that was clearly only used for Daniel’s wannabe chef experiments on Max.

Daniel was not going to earn a Michelin star, Max realized very quickly, but he was clearly determined to try, and about seven months in, Daniel had improved quite considerably.

“Today’s menu,” Daniel proclaimed, sliding the little whiteboard in front of Max with “The Max Menu” written across the top in blue dry erase maker.

Max pretends to think about it, admiring Daniel’s scrawl of his only choice in deep contemplation.

“I think I’ll have the,” he stops, squints his forehead together and taps his chin, “wow, so many options. Maybe the chicken pesto panini with a side of tomato soup.”

“A gin and tonic to drink?”

“It’s 11 am and you don’t have a liquor license,” Max informs him. Daniel sticks his tongue out at Max, and Max gives him the finger back until Daniel breaks and kisses his temple with a grin.

“I’m doing homemade pesto,” he tells Max excitedly before he darts off. Normally Max likes to watch him work, but today he has an assignment to do, so he locks in and tries to ignore the concerning bangs and yelps happening in the kitchen.

He looks up when a cold coconut water slides across the table. Kimi is staring at him, a very somber expression on his young face.

“Thank you,” Max says, smiling. Kimi’s expression doesn’t change. It’s odd to see, a sharp contrast from his usual happy manner. Max isn’t being conceited when he says Kimi loves him. He follows Max around like a puppy, peppering him with questions about his engineering degree and university. He wants to work with cars, he tells Max dreamily. He helps out in a mechanic shop from time to time, but the real goal is motorsport.

“Max.”

“Kimi,” Max replies, trying to match his serious demeanour.

Kimi’s eyes dart from side to side, even though the restaurant is as empty as ever. He hesitates, then slides over a piece of folded-up paper.

“Don’t read it here,” he hisses when Max moves to unfold its creases. “Just — later, at home with Daniel, okay?”

He’s so quiet that it’s barely even a whisper. He relaxes when Max nods and slides it into the back of his notebook. Max wants to ask why he didn’t give it to Daniel in the back, but he’s pretty sure Seb is in today. He glances at his closed notebook, the kitchen doors, and Kimi's shifty attitude, and nerves begin to knot at the pit of his stomach.

“Lunch is served,” Daniel loudly announces as he bounces out the swing doors, a tray on each arm. He ceremonially places the trays with three sandwiches and three soups on the table and makes Max scoot over in his booth.

“What are we chatting about?” he asks, slinging an arm over Max’s shoulder and taking a dramatic bite of his panini. He lets out an exaggerated moan and throws his head back. “God, I’m good. You guys are so lucky to have me around all the time.”

Kimi’s face drops at that, eyes darting to the table. He pretends to take a sudden interest in very carefully moving his lunch to his spot, refusing to look up at either of them. Despite the anxiety gnawing at him, Max can’t resist driving a teasing elbow into Daniel’s ribs and trying to distract from the weird tension in the air. “You turned our pasta in actual piles of mush yesterday, so don’t get cocky.”

Daniel looks affronted. “Dough is hard, okay? But this is a masterpiece.”

The panini is just okay, but his tomato soup is improving every time, and discussing Daniel’s culinary adventures distracts him from asking what was up when he came over, so Max lavishes praise and pretends he isn’t scared as fuck.

__________

Max thinks about the paper all day. He’s extremely tempted to look at it when he leaves for class, but Kimi instructed him to read it with Daniel, and Max doesn’t think he wants to handle the news on his own anyway. He lets himself into Daniel’s little studio apartment after class and finds a distraction in flipping through the library cookbooks. Max is pretty sure these are well overdue given that Daniel has been dabbling with this particular set for at least a month now. He doesn't want to think of how many fines Daniel is probably incurring.

There’s little post-it notes stuck on random recipes with notes:

- Good for date night! Won't burn badly if you get distracted and forget it in the oven

- Max likes the meatballs a little bigger

- Smoothness of this tomato soup with herbs from other recipe!

- Don’t add the egg in the hot milk. Cake had bits of scrambled egg :(

- Max prefers this without the mushrooms

- Mum would like this

- Gross. Never again.

It’s very cute, and Max takes pictures of some of his little notes. He’ll have to get Daniel cookbooks of his own for his birthday. Max teases Daniel sometimes about his failed recipes, but he clearly gets so excited about it.

Daniel breaks into a warm smile when he comes home to Max sitting on his bed, brown eyes all crinkled at the corners and teeth flashing through his mildly unruly beard. “This is a nice surprise,” he says, setting his little reusable tote on his kitchen counter and pulling out a container. “Sorry, I got sushi, but I can make you some dinner.”

Max shakes his head and screws up his nose at the sight of the raw fish. “I ate. Just brush your teeth before you kiss me.”

Daniel tuts at him. “One day, I’ll find seafood you like.”

Instead of sitting at the table, he takes his dinner and sits next to Max on the bed. He carefully opens the container, sets the sushi side on his lap, and pours soy sauce into the divot in the lid while Max opens his little takeout chopsticks for him and cracks them in two.

“Thanks,” Daniel says, leaning his head on Max’s shoulder and peering down at the cookbooks. He pops his first piece of sushi in his mouth and chews while he turns a few pages in the cookbook Max is reading, pausing to point at a gnocchi recipe.

“I want to try this for date night next week. It makes a ton, but I was thinking I would invite Kimi over to help us since we seem to have adopted a teenager. Then he could take the rest home for his family.”

Max tenses involuntarily. Daniel, glued to his side, obviously notices. “Is everything okay?”

Max adjusts, pulls the paper out of the pocket of his tight jeans, and holds it up for Daniel to see. “Kimi gave this to me earlier. He said to read it with you at home.”

Daniel places his chopsticks in his sushi container and carefully transfers his dinner from his lap to the bedside table. His big brown eyes are rounded with concern, lips pinched together.

“Do you think he’s warning us that —“ he starts, and doesn’t need to finish. Max is already nodding.

“I mean, it makes sense. We both know it’s a front." They’ve never verbally acknowledged it, and both of them wince at hearing Max say it aloud. "Obviously they’d think Kimi is the weakest link for whatever is going on there. They’ll try to make him tell everything he knows.”

Daniel clenches his fists, then unclenches so he can bite at the corner of his ragged thumbnail. “This is bullshit,” he says, muffled by the sound of his finger. “Kimi doesn’t know anything. Neither of us do.”

Max pulls at Daniel’s hand, taking it between his own and rubbing at the angry nail bed where Daniel has bitten and picked it into oblivion. “I know,” Max says softly. “But hopefully they’ll believe him, and maybe you can quit before they come after you. You can’t get deported or end up in prison, okay? If there’s an out, you need to take it.”

Daniel stares at the paper like it might detonate at any second where it lays entangled in their hands, but starts to grab at it anyway. Max snatches back both his hands and the paper before Daniel can open it. “Daniel, promise me,” he says. He aims for stern, but it probably comes across desperate, scared. He is scared, for all of them.

Daniel looks at Max with his worried doe eyes and Max can feel his heart physically squeeze. He didn’t realize how much love would ache before Daniel, how much of love also came with constant anxiety about your person.

He pulls Daniel’s head into the junction of his neck and shoulder so he doesn’t have to look at his fear, and exhales only when Daniel says, “I promise,” warm breath puffing into the fabric of Max’s cotton shirt.

“Okay,” Max says, trying to exude calm. “We’ll look, and whatever it says, we’ll figure out a plan. Hopefully the FBI is just suspicious, and they aren’t making Kimi an undercover agent or something.”

“Oh god,” Daniel says faintly. “Can they do that? He’s in high school.”

“Let’s not panic,” Max says, while absolutely panicking. “We look and then we figure it out.”

He swallows once, twice, three times before he places the paper within both their eyesight. Daniel is still tucked into Max’s body, but turns his neck for a better view as Max unfolds the paper on his lap.

They both scan the first few lines, breathless, until Daniel punches the mattress. “That motherfucker. I’m going to kill him for this.”

Dear Mr. Antonelli, On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the Department of Engineering for the MIT class of 2029. You were identified as one of the most promising and outstanding students in the talented and competitive applicant pool.

“He got a scholarship,” Max says, choked up, pointing to the bottom of the letter. “Oh my god.” He jabs a finger at the date. “He’s been sitting on this acceptance for a month. He must have been scared to tell us he's leaving.”

Daniel rubs at his suspiciously moist eyes. “I don’t know much about American universities, but this is a good school, right?”

“Very hard to get into. He’s so smart, Daniel. He’s going to build F1 cars one day.”

“We need to call him,” Daniel sniffs, “and also tell him that he is so, so bad at working around organized crime. He’s so dumb. I would’ve fled the city without opening this if you weren’t here.”

Max wraps his arms around Daniel, hugging him tightly. “Luckily, I don’t think we have to worry about him working around crime anymore.”

“Unless he gets a job with Flavio Briatore,” Daniel mumbles, then perks up. “Hey, maybe Seb knows him through all his underground criminal stuff. We could get Kimi a job with Alpine.”

“We’re getting him out of crime,” Max reminds him, then reconsiders. “Or, I guess we’ll see how his job hunt goes in four years.”

“God,” Daniel says, reaching back over for his sushi container. “I need to get back to the library so I can get some baking books. I cannot repeat the scrambled cake disaster when we make him a celebration cake.”

Max pauses. “Daniel, can you still check out books? Don’t you have fines?”

Daniel looks at him, bewildered. “Check them out? They’re free. You just go in and take them, and then you give them back whenever you decide you’re done.”

“Oh my god,” Max says, staring at him. “You’ve been stealing from the library.”

Daniel jerks back in offence, soy sauce splashing a little onto his leg. “The whole point is they’re free!”

Max shakes his head. “I can’t believe we panicked about organized crime and you’re actively stealing library books. Daniel, this is a disaster. We have to sneak them back tomorrow.”

“My recipes,” Daniel says mournfully, pointing at all the post-it notes. Max looks at the gnocchi recipe he was so excited about, thinks of all his carefully written notes, and sighs.

“Fine, but we’re going to a different library and getting you an actual card.”

Daniel happily downs another piece of sushi. “Don’t pretend my criminal ways don’t turn you on.”

“I’m moving to Boston with Kimi,” Max teases, and Daniel drops his chopsticks.

“MIT is in Boston?”

[sysakiddo]

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

I got you, anon 🫡 (1,2,3,4,5,6)

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

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

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

“Hope not your shaken not stirred bullshit,” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sysakiddo]

Castle of the Black Flames - Pt 2

Part 1 | AO3

Daniel sat on his bed, straight backed and uncomfortable. He looked around the space, it looked pretty much the same as it did before he left. The window to his left showed the wide yawning of the forest that surrounded the mansion. He remembered wondering what was out there, beyond the wards, beyond the veil. 

There wasn’t much life before the mansion. His parents were of the realm and he was enrolled when he showed the aptitude for strong magic. Staying in the realm had been a non-option, the temptation to come back would have been too great. 

Daniel stared at his palm, igniting the flame of his power for the first time in five years. It had taken a while to get used to it. The lack. The powerlessness. 

He could still do small magic in the human realm, inconsequential party tricks at the end of the day. It was just easier to pretend it didn’t exist than to keep wanting more when there would be none.

He clenched his fist and extinguished the flow, it didn’t make sense to revel in the feeling. It would be gone again soon enough.

“So I see you’re back.” Max’s voice was deeper than he remembered, but still pleasantly raspy.

“Not so much a return but more as a summoning.” Daniel stood, turning to look at him standing confidently in the doorway. 

Max scoffed and entered the room. He settled on leaning against the old desk Daniel hated using. Daniel couldn’t help but take in the differences since the last time they’d been in close proximity like this. 

Max looked good, he always had– even when he was a lanky teenager who hadn’t quite grown into his face yet. Daniel wasn’t one to talk about growing into features, he used to be teased about how big his nose was. It still was big, but he thought the rest of him matched up now. 

Max was all angles and muscles in his uniform. His broad shoulders accentuated how strong he seemed. Daniel knew he was, he’d been strong then– in both magic and physical prowess– there was no doubt he was stronger now.

“Look, I won’t keep you long.” Daniel figured he’d just get this out of the way, he didn’t belong here. Not anymore. “I’m not staying.” He didn’t need whatever drama that was coming, he was fine in his life outside.

“So eager to go back to your ‘normal’ life? What is it that you do anyways?”  

Daniel clenched his fist against Max’s belittling tone. “I’m a tattoo artist.”

Max scoffed again, a sneer staining his lips. “You left me— everything to go paint tattoos on people.” Daniel could tell what he thought of that. He shrugged.

“I enjoy it. What? You thought I joined the army or something? Sorry to break it to you mate. I only have one process of indoctrination in me per lifetime.” Daniel smiled and widened his arms as if to remind Max about what this place truly was. This mansion, at its core, was the training ground for the Prince’s Army. Max’s army. 

One didn’t just leave, especially after they’ve sworn The Oath.

Even now, Daniel could feel the tendrils of his magic attempting to reach out to Max. He was out of practice in keeping it at bay. He felt exposed.

At least Max seemed to be ignoring it all. 

“If you love your life out there so much, then why are you back?” Daniel did the respectable thing in pretending he couldn’t hear the petulance in Max’s tone. He didn’t like feeling rejected, and Daniel left him– rejected this life with him. 

It was Daniel’s turn to scoff, he folded his arms to his chest. “I’ve been gone a long time but I still remember how it goes Max. You felt it, when Toto brought me here. You know I didn’t cross over of my own free will.”

Max looked away as if caught. Daniel knew that Max knew the moment he came here. Could feel the fight in the forest, the heat of Daniel’s battle magic the moment it came back to him. 

“So that's it?” Max’s tone was accusing. But Daniel didn’t quite know what he was accusing him of.

“Boys.” Toto’s voice cut through any response Daniel had. They both looked to see him standing in the doorway. “Hate to break up this reunion, but I need to speak with Daniel.”

Max looked like he wanted to argue for a second before he scowled and left the room quickly. 

“You are out of practice.” Toto said and Daniel rolled his eyes.

“No shit.”

“You should see Franz about your training–”

“I’m not staying, Toto.” Daniel interrupted. He had a life to get back to. He was done with everyone’s high handedness.

Toto watched him for a second and Daniel fought the urge to squirm under his heavy gaze.

“You think this has nothing to do with you.” Toto seemed to come to a realization and Daniel didn’t like the implications. It didn’t involve him. And he was tired of the insinuation that it did.

Toto watched him for a moment longer before smiling bemusedly at him. “You’ll meet with Franz in an hour.” He turned to leave before stopping in the doorway. “Everything is as you left it.” He waved to the room at large before leaving. 

No doubt the room was magicked away when he left, the mansion knew its occupants. Daniel had lived here so long that his magic was seeped into the space.

“Fuck.” Daniel whispered then dragged his hand down his face. He kicked at the desk in frustration and the middle drawer slid forward as if broken from the track. It used to annoy the hell out of him.

Inside were a few dusty items, bits and bobs of Daniel’s old life. Old notes, worn gloves from a training uniform, and a box. Daniel grabbed the box, narrowed brown eyes taking in the simple wood. He didn’t remember it, couldn’t recall ever seeing it before.

He tried to open it, but it didn’t budge. Tried multiple times to figure out the mechanism, to no avail. He then attempted to wedge his fingernail into the tight seam but it shocked him instead. He dropped it in his shock, popping the injured finger into his mouth to soothe. Right, he should have assumed it was magical in nature.

The box fell to the floor just as someone knocked on the door, Daniel looked up to see a familiar face. A smile broke out on his lips as he walked over to them, box forgotten.

The wooden box laid splayed open on the floor, contents winking into the daylight of the room. After a moment, it snapped shut of its own volition– a flash of light sealing it once more.

[sysakiddo]

He wakes Max up with a nudge of his foot, always a light sleeper.

“What’s wrong?” he is immediately alert, casting a diagnostic spell on him. The ugly mustardy hues signifying his anxiety fill the room. 

Max is watching him expectantly. “Are you-” Daniel clears his throat. “I mean - Are you cheating on me?” 

Max’s eyes bulge out and he shakes his head no quickly. He casts a lie detector spell on himself before saying, “Of course I am not cheating on you, Daniel.” 

Daniel would have believed him without the spell as well. “What was the fight with Charles about then?” 

“Just racing stuff, baby,” which sounds about right, but Daniel still notices that Max answers only after finishing his spell. 

Daniel huffs and turns around, shuffling the duvet around a bit. Wills himself to sleep. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to-” 

Daniel squeezes his eyes. “No,” He hears how Max turns in the bed, probably agitated by his shirt riding up. 

“I also have the last vial of Charles’ latest batch-” 

He doesn’t let him finish, snapping another no at him. The last thing Daniel needs right now is to think about how he can’t fall asleep unless bewitched. 

He snaps his eyes open when another light flashes through the room. “Daniel, don’t be difficult. I could just use a calming spell on you,” 

Daniel is so attuned to Max’s magic that he can feel it approaching, practically engulfing him in a blue light. 

“I said no!” he snaps, and the blue light gets lost in a completely different light now, pink of a Perth sunrise filling the room. Daniel gasps even before the pain registers. Then, fire. 

His whole body seizes in a mute scream, and he barely has the wherewithal to feel that he has fallen off the bed. His fingers clench in his hair, pulling, pulling out strands of his curls without feeling anything; the pain that expands in his chest makes taking a breath an impossible feat. 

Suddenly, he involuntarily freezes in the middle of a blink. The pain eases slowly, and he notices he’s hovering in the air, arms opened up like a doll. 

He blinks, the spell waning. Max’s hands are all over him, like he is checking for injuries that he knew weren’t there. 

“Oh my God,” he hears Max murmuring, a frantic expression on his face. “It’s getting so much worse,” 

Daniel flinches away from his touch when he finally becomes the sole master of his movements. He groans loudly, pushes Max’s hand away from trying to touch his arm, right where the curse mark above the love tattoo pulses in an ugly black shape. 

“Does it still hurt? Should I call a healer?” Max sounds like he is holding back tears. 

Daniel finally manages to sit. “Did you seriously just use a freezing spell on me?” he spits, turning to stand up from the bed. He stumbles, and Max is already there, catching him. He manages to summon enough strength to push him away.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do-” Max blabbers but doesn’t step away from Daniel. “You were hurting yourself and-” 

“Fuck you, Max,” Daniel gingerly takes a few steps, opens the door to their bedroom. Now, he can smell the magic in the air, the power pulsing through the floor of the room. Max's power. He feels dizzy. “Hexing someone who can’t fight back, that’s a low blow even for you,” 

Max narrows his eyes. “What do you mean even for me? What do you mean hexing? I was just trying to-” 

“Maybe you should quit trying,” Daniel snaps and slams the door closed behind him. 

[sysakiddo]

George Russell & Max Verstappen - BLUE by Billie Eilish

"two sides of the same coin"

[sysakiddo]

[sysakiddo]

[sysakiddo]

lolololol jd vance punching the air rn

[sysakiddo]

the unbearable lightness of being, philip kaufman 1988 / henri de toulouse-lautrec/ peter wever / egon schiele

[sysakiddo]

i come bearing gifts!

2.4k of alien max. maxiel. daniel has a bad night and max is the only thing that helps. (all of alien max verse here)

Daniel steers his car into the driveway, kicking up dust behind him. When he sneaks a glance over at Max, he's finishing his slushie from the beach, looking out the window happily. 

"It's getting a bit late already, wanna have dinner?" Daniel asks.

"Sure Daniel, I will try and fix the communicator," Max returns. 

They make their way inside, Daniel making a beeline for the freezer to see if he has any leftovers that would do.

Max on the other hand, spreads out his supplies and starts deconstructing his communications device into the tiniest bits. 

Daniel won't even try to comprehend what's going on and turns towards the stove. 

After dinner, Max continues working on his project and Daniel puts on Netflix, spreading out on the couch. He settles on some reality show he started a while back and is only half watching, intermittently turning back to watch Max work. He's intensely focused, taking apart little metal plates and replacing them. He's also taking apart some of the cables he bought, using the single copper threads to connect bits.

Sometimes, when he's frustrated he makes a clicking noise. Daniel's not sure whether that's just his equivalent of a huff or if he's cursing under his breath in alien. It's endearing either way. 

Eventually, Max groans loudly, pushes his hands into his blonde strands and slides down the barstool. 

"I think I give up, it's not working," Max says, looking downtrodden. 

"It's okay, it's getting late anyway. Let's just go to bed, hm?" Daniel says.

"Okay, Daniel," Max agrees.

Max mentions that he'd like to soak in the bath for a bit before going to his human bed so Daniel lets the bath run while he takes a quick shower and brushes his teeth. He's just crunching some gel into his curls when he sees Max hovering by the cracked door in his mirror. 

"C'mon then Maxy, I'm done. Goodnight, yeah?" Daniel says and lets Max into the bathroom. 

He is just settled into his bed, adjusting the pillow when he hears the faint sloshing of water in the tub. 

He closes his eyes and wills his brain to stop imaging Max stripped bare, soaking in the bath, one leg propped up on the side of the tub. Yeah, awesome Daniel. Not thinking about it is definitely working.

Daniel turns, trying to find a comfortable position to try and fall asleep in. It's not been the easiest of late. After a few minutes of trying to clear his mind, he turns onto his front and buries his face in the pillow. He chances a glance at the clock on his bedside. Great, 50 minutes have already passed.

Eventually, after much tossing and turning, he must fall asleep. The next thing he knows he's sitting upright in his bed, heart hammering in his chest, trying to gulp down a breath. His chest hurts, it feels all tight and achey. His lungs feel like they're on fire. He feels a wet sensation on his lower arm, like a raindrop.

He looks around. He's inside his room. That doesn't make any sense.

When he turns to his other side, he sees a figure half hunched over the edge of the bed. More panic spreads in his chest and he scrambles towards the other side of the bed.

"Daniel," a calm and steady voice asks.

Max. Oh thank fucking God. It's just Max. 

"Breathe with me, c'mon, just like earlier," Max says.

Daniel hears a deep breath echo through his darkened room and he tries to follow, he does, but it's not really working. He hears his breath stock before any air can even really enter his lung. 

"And again, c'mon," Max instructs. 

Daniel tries, he does, but it's not doing anything. He squeaks out a sound. It sounds distressed even to his own ears. Then, Max climbs onto the bed and takes Daniel's hand with his dripping wet one. 

It feels like a shock to Daniel's system, but it helps. His lungs stutter and finally let some air in. Max runs his damp thumb over Daniel's hand again. Just like before in the store. It feels familiar and calming. 

Daniel lets him, eventually lies back down, sideways, facing Max.

Max climbs into the bed too, settles next to Daniel and keeps running his thumb back and forth on the back of Daniel's hand. 

At some point Daniel huffs out a laugh. "Did you lie down in my sheets soaking wet, Maxy?" 

"Yes, it's much nicer like this, actually. Less dry and itchy," Max confirms. 

"I'm glad," Daniel murmurs. 

"Just go to sleep, Daniel, I will be here," Max says. 

"Yeah?" Daniel asks.

"Hm, I'm not going anywhere," Max says, like it's the most normal thing in the world. 

Like it's not an insane thing to say to someone you've known for a couple days. But the thing is. The thing is that Daniel believes him. Max is so fucking sincere with his words and actions and intentions. There's no second guessing. It gives Daniel whiplash. He's not been used to that level of sincerity over the last few years. 

So Daniel does just that, focuses on the repetitive motion of Max's fingertips on his skin and closes his eyes.

He falls into a dreamless sleep. 

Daniel wakes with a start. He hears someone walking up the stairs. The fifth step from the top creaks loudly, like it always does.

Daniel looks over at the bedside table. The clock reads 9:54am. This has to be the longest he's slept in weeks. 

He hears a familiar voice drift through his bedroom door "Danny, don't tell me you're still sleeping," his sisters voice sounds through the wood.

Daniel tries to sit up but he realises he's being held down. He looks over and Max is lying on his spare pillow, jaw slack and lips puckered in his sleep. Max has his hand wrapped around Daniel's wrist. Probably from where he's patted Daniel to sleep last night. 

He's so fucked.

Michelle barges through the door in that exact moment, yelling "Wakey, wakey, Daniel!"

When she takes in the scene in front of her, she stops in her tracks, breathes out a fuck and turns back around, slamming the door behind her.

All the commotion stirs Max out of his sleep. He lazily blinks his eyes open, pupils little slits that expand rapidly in the relative darkness of the room.

"Hello, Daniel," he says sleepily, voice shot. His hand around Daniel's wrist gives a slight squeeze and almost, as if out of instinct, his thumb starts its back and forth movement again, calming Daniel.

"Everything okay? You smell slightly off," Max asks, rolling his face into the pillow underneath him. 

"My sister just walked in on us," Daniel says, resigned. 

He'll never live this down, especially when she properly sees Max.

"It's okay, I'm of course happy to meet her," Max says.

That startles a laugh out of Daniel. 

"Yeah? No cold feet?" he asks.

"I am obviously happy to meet your family, Daniel. It's very rude not to, considering everything," Max says. 

"Everything?" Daniel asks.

"Yes, of course. It is only proper. My mother raised me better than that. They should meet me," Max says, as if that explains anything. 

Daniel has that nagging feeling in the back of his head that he's missing something major.

"Max, what do you mean exactly? Before what?" Daniel asks.

In that moment, Michelle knocks on the door again.

"Get decent in there, yeah? I'm putting some coffee on downstairs. And don't even think of making a run for it out the window, I want to meet you so I can never let Danny live this down!" Michelle half-yells through the door. 

"Jesus, Mish!" Daniel yells back.

He hears her cackle and then her footsteps retreat down the stairs. 

"She seems nice," Max says from beside him. He has not stopped running his finger over Daniel's wrist. Daniel doesn't want him to stop. 

"She's an asshole," Daniel says through a laugh. 

"I'll go down for now, do you want to wake up properly and join us in a bit?" Daniel asks.

"Sure, I'll just get dressed," Max says. 

He gives Daniel one last squeeze, rolls off the side of the bed and frees himself from under Daniel's covers. He only wearing the shorts Daniel gave him yesterday. His chest is bare. Daniel tries not to stare, he really does but Max looks broad and toned, under a thin layer of squish. And his pecs are, quite frankly, obscene. They bounce with each movement and Daniel feels his mouth watering. 

Daniel gives himself a shake, gets out the bed and wills his morning wood to go down. 

When he enters the kitchen, Michelle is placing a cup under the coffee machine.

"Morning," Daniel ventures.

"Very good morning, actually," Michelle responds. 

"Oh shut up, Mish," Daniel says. 

"You know I won't," she sing-songs.

"I can explain, okay, it's ehm-" Daniel tries.

"Dan, you really don't need to explain. It's fine that it's a guy. I don't care. I just want you to be happy, hm?" she says. The look on her face is really sincere. Daniel doesn't know what to feel or say in response to that. 

He settles on "thanks, but ehm, it's a bit more complicated than that. Just don't freak out, yeah? Promise me, please."

"If this is a gender thing that's of course fine, too, Dan," she says, swapping out the cups now.

Daniel hears the stairs creak. Max is coming down. Before Daniel can say anything else, Max enters the kitchen. He walks straight past Daniel, making a beeline for Michelle, who is just fiddling with the pressure of the coffee machine. 

"Hello, you must be Daniel's sister. It's an honour to meet you, I'm MX.V331 but Daniel calls me Max," he says, folding his hands together in front of him and giving Michelle a slight bow. 

Daniel can see the exact moment Michelle registers first Max's eyes, then his pointy ears and then the Enchante t-shirt with the hole at the collar from Daniel's first ever collection. It's his favourite t-shirt and he's refused to throw it out despite his last girlfriend begging him to get rid of it for years. 

She throws Daniel a questioning look but recovers well and holds her hand out to Max. He looks a bit lost, throws a forlorn look back at Daniel who just nods encouragingly. So Max mirrors Michelle and they shake hands. 

"Nice to meet you, Max," she says.

Max smiles back at her and then makes his way to the bar. 

"So, Max, tell me about yourself. How long have you known my brother?" Michelle asks to break the silence. 

"Well, he pulled me out of my crashed plane about two days ago, so about that long," Max says. 

"Crashed plane, oh my god! Are you okay? What did the police say? Dan, what the hell why didn't you call?" Michelle asks alarmed.

"Well, uhm," Daniel starts.

"Well, Daniel said that the alien police might come and get me so I've been wearing a hat to hide," Max says matter of factly. 

"Alien police," Michelle says. She pauses. Daniel fiddles with his cuticles.

"You're having me on, right? You just picked him up in cosplay after a Star Trek convention, right? Please tell me this is some fetish thing. I won't judge," Michelle says to Daniel, throwing her hands up.

"No can do, I'm afraid. Maxy here is a full fledged humanoid alien I picked up in the desert. Kinda sick, eh?" Daniel says, putting his arm around Max where he's sitting on the bar stool. 

"Also you know damn well there are no conventions happening right now, nerd," Daniel needles. 

"You're being serious?" Michelle asks. 

"He is," Max pipes up, smiling his big, crinkly smile up at Daniel. 

"Prove it," Michelle says. 

"Would you be so kind, Max?" Daniel asks.

Max nods and goes to the sink to wet his hand. He splashes some on his neck as well for good measure.

"Go on," Daniel urges his sister.

She approaches Max with skeptical look on her face. Max points to his neck where his gills are opening and closing. He also holds up his hand where his webbing is more visible now. 

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Michelle shrieks.

"Don't be fucking rude," Daniel scolds.

"No, it's not that. Aliens exist, oh my god," she says. "This type of shit would only happen to you, Dan."

"You're technically not meant to know, so please can you-" Max starts.

Michelle just envelops Max in a hug in response. Max looks frozen in place and stands there, stock still, while his sister hugs him tight. 

"Of course, not a word," she says.

"Well, I mean, shall we have breakfast then?" Daniel asks.

+++ 

After breakfast, Daniel suggest that Max try out the pool and he's living his best life splashing away in it. He lamented the stinky acid smell before dipping his toe in but he seems to be enjoying himself now. 

He's currently sitting at the bottom of the pool and has been down there for a good three minutes.

Daniel and Michelle are sitting on the sun lounger, enjoying another coffee. 

Max had wrinkled his nose at the proposition after trying it earlier and doing his best to not spit the whole gulp back into his cup. No coffee for Max. Daniel has taken note.

"So," Michelle starts.

"Don't," Daniel responds.

"Daniel," Michelle says.

"It's not like that. He's," Daniel says, motioning towards the pool. Max is still sitting there at the bottom, legs crossed and eyes open, Daniel is pretty sure.

"Don't lie to me. I've known you all your life remember?" Michelle snorts out.

"I'm not lying. I can't. He's just lost and stranded. And I'm helping him. I'm nice like that," Daniel protests.

"He's weird," Michelle says.

"Hey!" Daniel shouts, affronted.

"You love weird! Plus, you were sleeping together, literally. Cuddled up," Michelle responds, throwing Daniel a look.

"Max is just. He's different. He doesn't understand our customs and it doesn't mean the same thing to him," Daniel say.

"Fuck that, he looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky. And he would know. That's where he's from," Michelle says.

"Human standards don't apply, Mich. He's not from here," Daniel says.

"But you are, and they do mean something to you. Don't even try your bullshit with me, Dan. I know your tells," Michelle says.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Daniel tells her, fiddling with one of the pebbles Max gave him yesterday in his short pocket.

[sysakiddo]

Previous part

Max can't get it out of his head. Everything is adding up.

Daniel is still a bed-wetter.

The music in the bathroom. That was to cover up his changing. He figured that out fast, but now it's the little things. Max pretends to be asleep in the morning when Daniel wakes up, catching him swear to himself and shuffle out of bed, the plastic crinkling sounding less... loud. Less empty. It's full. He's wet himself.

Max wills his breathing to slow, his eyes to relax, to seem perfectly asleep, just to hear Daniel waddle into the bathroom, peel off the tapes and let the wet diaper flop onto the tiled floor. He can hear a sharp inhale, then the bathroom door creaking open again. Daniel is checking. Max keeps pretending.

He doesn't say anything to Daniel and 'wakes up' late.

Fourty-five minutes later and they're at the paddock, with the bright Baku sky shining down.

Walking far behind Max, out of distance for an awkward conversation, is Daniel, with his special bag heaved onto his back. He's in shorts, and from the few glances Max got while getting out of the car, he's not wearing a diaper underneath. It must be a night-time only thing, what he experiences.

That, in turn, explains the naps, or lackthereof.

Daniel rubs at his eyes and shields them from the sunlight as he talks with his race engineer about the upcoming practice sessions. From across the room, Max finds a way to shuffle in place to face Daniel while chatting with GP, letting his eyes wander. He watches Daniel smile and shake his head at something Pierre says.

A offer of coffee, it has to be.

With the time remaining, if Daniel accepts and has a cup, then he'd be bursting for the toilet while in the middle of FP1. Bladder weakness. Is that a side effect of his bedwetting? Would he be leaking in the car? Has he done that before?

"Max. You look like a fuckin' cougar right now."

"Huh."

"Quit that. I said because of the low grip we're going to need to-"

Max zones out again, staring at the space between GP's eyes instead.

— — — — —

"...fuck, fuck!" Daniel hisses through his teeth.

He's running into the red bull hub building, aiming for his driver room, his private room, his quiet space, his bathroom, his diaper bag-

"Daniel, hey! What's the rush?"

Max has stuck a hand out, stopping Daniel from running past from where he's sat. Daniel smiles down at him, a pained grin, nodding and trying to excuse himself before he fucking pisses himself right here in front of Max, in front of everyone.

"Heading back, it's nothing-" he can feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, his body's first mistake.

Max's face drops, and he stands, his chair scraping on the floor, drawing the attention of every red bull team member in the lower floor to them. He floats his hands around Daniel, not touching, shielding, trying to look closely at his face.

"Are you okay? Has something happened?" he asks, hanging right behind Daniel as he stumbles up the steps into his driver room.

"Nothing! Fuck off!" Daniel's voice cracks.

It's like a spark of fury has gone off in Max's eyes, and he follows Daniel into his room, pushing through the slammed shut door. The space is cramped, even if it's a mirrored copy of Max's room, separated by a thin wall next to each other. He must think Daniel is- is hurt, or been yelled at by Helmut, or been the target of a joke, not that he's- not that he's going to-

"Max, I said fuck off! It's not big deal, just-"

He can't hold it anymore.

Daniel lets out a groan and spins on his heel, lifting up his toilet lid and frantically pulling his dripping dick out of his shorts. Behind him, he can hear Max going "huh?- Oh! Uh, oh shit, okay-" before the sound of piss streaming into the toilet bowl and Daniel moaning in relief fills the room.

He grabs onto the lipped shelf behind the toilet, stabilising himself, and looks over his shoulder. Max seems to be preoccupying himself with the coat hangers.

Daniel clenches his eyes shut as he feels his bladder nearing empty, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth.

He shakes his leg to get the last dribbles out, then pulls his pants and shorts back up. He doesn't turn to Max, just yet, but hears him step closer.

"Now why was that so bad? I thought you were about to cry."

"I just-" he sighs. Drags his hand over his face. "I've, like, got a tiny bladder, yeah? It's annoying. It hurts when... just- don't stop me from getting to the toilets, mate."

Max drops his head, like a bow, respect, an apology. He's taller than Daniel by a few inches, he's getting on his level.

"I did not realise it was such a... hassle for you."

"Yeah. It is. Leave it," Daniel says, avoiding Max's line of sight.

"Explains a lot, though," Max adds, which makes Daniel perk up. In fear. "The toilet breaks. Many, many of them. I thought you were trying to sneak some time on your phone, and you had a giiirl to talk to-"

That makes Daniel break into a giggle, followed by a shove to Max's arm.

This is the first little barrier of Daniel revealing his... vulnerability to Max. A small bladder, that works. Dismisses a few concerns without being a real, embarrassing medical condition.

It's all Max needs to know.

— — — — —

Max closes the door to his driver room, one door over from Daniel's, and has a raging boner.

[sysakiddo]

Daniel is used to it. Used to keeping it quiet, too.

When he's alone it's easy to be like "yeah, I piss myself at night, I can't control it, so what", the whole routine of baby powder, putting a diaper on, falling asleep, waking up wet, changing out of it and stashing it into a plastic bag into a bin is just so normal to him now. When he's alone.

Daniel caaan't be sharing a room with his teammate now. Not now, please, not now.

Max is a three time world champion, on his way to a fourth, stuck with red bull since the start and made that shitty drink synonymous with his name. He's so fucking cooool, Daniel has no idea how he's gotten to this level. He of course does, but- that's not the point.

He can't be sharing a room with Max now. Or at all. Ever. Fuck the crush he has on his new, cooler, older teammate, if Max catches him waddling to bed with a stupidly big and plastic-y sounding ass then he'll quit F1 and off himself right there and then. Suffocate himself with his own medical aids all taped over his head.

He tries to bargain out of it with Horner, one person who vaguely knows about Daniel's nighttime problems, but all he says is that Max is a good lad and won't pick on him for something he can't control. As if. Daniel knows the older drivers sit and gossip about the younger ones whenever they can, shared whispering when crossing paths in the garage corridors, side eyeing the rookies before press conferences. They always do that. Daniel's seen it. He's been in that position too many times.

Daniel tries one last time to get out of sharing the hotel room by begging his trainer to share instead. He understands the concern, but he's got a tiny room and a single bed, and gives a little nod down to Daniel's crotch when he says he doesn't want a leak all over his thighs in the morning.

With the last chance gone, Daniel has to suck it up and deal with it - find a way to hide any and every indication of something being wrong with him from Max.

Too bad diapers are the most obnoxious thing to deal with when trying to be discreet about them.

Daniel's used up all his pull-ups for naps during the week before. It would have been easy if he wasn't so tired, or took some more from home before this two week stint, or got nabbed some from the medical team, or just-

He sighs, lying on his back, scrolling on his phone with one earbud in, eyes unfocused on the screen.

Max is over in the corner, facetiming his sister, waving to his nieces. Daniel's half listening, picking out bits that sound somewhat English before they're interrupted with that khggrh sound.

He's hatching a plan, to get diaper up when Max is fast asleep, but even then, he might wake him up from the loud crinkling. What other plans can he go through with? Falling asleep in the bathtub? What if Max needs to go piss in the night and the doors locked? That's suspicious enough to warrant a interrogation conversation with Daniel about it. Run over to get ready in his trainers bathroom? Then he'll have to waddle back, up three floors and long corridors to get back. The diapers are too loud when they're empty.

"Are you doing okay, mate?" Max voice comes, from a bit closer. He's sat on the edge of his bed now. Yawns and stretches.

"It's getting late," he keeps talking. The implication is there.

"I gotta- uh, shower, I'll go in after you." Daniel nods to the bathroom. If he uses the shower and... and plays some music along with it, then maybe? Max won't hear the rustling of his diaper. Solid plan, Danny boy.

All Max does is nod and walk into the bathroom.

Leaving Daniel, and his totally-not-diaper-bag-backpack that needs to be smuggled in, alone to think.

Well, what if...

What if he just... told him?

[sysakiddo]

have some more alien max au cause he's my lil guy

pt. 4 (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)

"you saying i stink?" daniel asks.

"of course not. i just said you smelled upset," max says calmly, picking up one of the bread cubes on his plate. 

"how can you tell?" daniel asks.

"well when we arrived at your house, for example, you smelled much calmer and sweet. when you're anxious it turns more bitter," max says, shrugging his shoulder a bit. 

"you smell that much? oh god," daniel says lifting his t-shirt to his nose to give himself a sniff. it smells a bit like sweat and a bit like his fabric softener. daniel wrinkles his nose at himself.

"well usually you just smell like human and a bit like some sort of wood. i'm guessing it's a smell enhancer your kind put on. it was clinging to the seats in your car as well but i think it was different to yours. more sweet. hard to tell as i've not been outside much," max continues to explain.

"you're a pretty special guy, huh max?" daniel asks.

"i'm a pretty normal guy, actually," max deflects.

"yeah? are there many interplanetary pilots where you're from?" daniel asks.

"well, not that many, only twenty are picked every year but many try to get in, of course," max says, pushing the last cherry tomato on his plate around. 

"only twenty, huh. out of how many?" daniel asks.

"we got about 100 billion people in our system, so." max confirms, casually.

"yeah maxy, sorry to be the one to break this to you but i'm pretty sure you're not that average after all," daniel says.

max huffs out a laugh then. 

"what do you do, daniel?" max asks in return.

"guess," daniel challenges.

"maybe a farmer? this is a farm, right?" max asks.

"hit the nail on the head, maxy. farmer dan, that's me." daniel says, with a laugh.

"that's nice, very peaceful," max says earnestly. 

"yeah, no stress round here," daniel confirms, smile starting to strain. 

"what are you going to do now, though?" daniel asks max to change topics.

at that max buries his face in his hands, groaning. "my ship, i have to get to it and assess the damage. i'm so fucked. if you point me in the right direction, i can walk there and get out your hair."

a slight surge of panic passes through daniel at that. "what? max don't be stupid, i'll drive you, it's so hot out there, you'll burn and dehydrate. it's the middle of summer."

"it's totally okay, i can wait outside in the shade until the sun goes down. you've been much too nice to me already," max says. getting down from the barstool, folding his hands together and giving daniel a solemn nod. "thanks so much for all your help, daniel." 

with that, max turns on his heel and moves towards the door. 

"woah, wait max!" daniel yells after him, jogging round his kitchen island. 

max continues walking down the hallway, until daniel catches up with him, grabbing him by the elbow. 

"wait up, max. c'mon stop," daniel pleads.

max turns around then, eyes downcast and ears slightly twitching. that's new, daniel thinks. 

"i can't let you go out there with a clear conscience if the guest bedroom is too dry for you, mate. please. it's no bother, honestly." daniel says.

"my mother always taught me not to overstay my welcome." max responds.

"that's fine then. you haven't. and my mother taught me to be a good host and help people if they need it. we don't want to disappoint grace, do we?" daniel asks.

"if you're sure," max mumbles. 

"yeah, c'mon let's get you a water and then we can drive back out there. do you think we could load it onto the trailer?" daniel asks.

"i'd have to see the size and the damage but maybe. it's one of the more compact models," max says. 

after daniel fills up one of the tumblers usually reserved for his nephew with cold water, he hands it to max with a wink. "so you don't dry out like a frog on concrete."

max holds onto it with both hands and mutters a quiet "thanks," in return. 

after crossing the driveway, daniel slides the barn doors open, revealing a collections of bikes, quads and mechanical equipment as well as the trailer. 

"what d'ya reckon? would it fit?" daniel asks max. 

max is currently sucking on the blue straw of his tumbler looking around curiously at all the bikes. 

"hm, yeah probably. it'll probably stick out the sides though with the wings," max confirms. 

"that should be fine, c'mon help me hook it up," daniel says. 

+++

"i think it should be coming up on the right hand side soon," daniel says, scanning the horizon for any traces of shiny metal.

"i think i can see it, there, there," max says, pointing in the distance. 

daniel has his foot on the brake but before the car is even fully halted, max is opening the car door, jumping out.

"jesus, slow down!" daniel says but it's no use. max is basically running towards his ship, skipping over bushes of grass. 

daniel kills the engine and follows as quickly as he can. by the time he joins max, the other has his head stuck in the cockpit, rummaging around inside. he pulls some sort of square out, and taps it a couple times. then he lets out a frustrated clicking sound.

"everything alright?" daniel asks. 

"yes but no. my communicator is broken, i'll have to try and fix it as well to signal back home. my family will be worried, let alone my team."

"it's okay, i can give you some tools that might help?" daniel suggests.

"thanks, i hope i can make it work with the primitive tech you have here."

"alright, damn," daniel snorts. "i'll back the truck up out here and then we can load it up, yeah?"

once daniel got the trailer as close as he can get it, they attach the crane at the top to the cockpit and lift it on top of the loading zone.

max was right, the wings do stick out but hopefully they can get away with it.

on the drive back, max is tinkering away on his communicator with a tiny tool he must have stored in his cockpit but daniel isn't sure he made much progress. 

"so, what family you got waiting at home then?" daniel asks max.

max stops fiddling for a moment to hum in question.

"your family, i asked," daniel repeats. 

"oh, well my mum and dad, plus my sister and nephews. and my sister had another baby on the way. i haven't seen that one yet cause i'm always away months at a time," max explains.

"so, no girlfriend waiting at home?" daniel asks.

"no, no girlfriend, i don't have," max clears his throat, "one of those," max says, casting a sideways glance at daniel. 

"a boyfriend perhaps?" daniel asks, voice neutral. 

"no, no boyfriend either at the moment," max confirms, twiddling the tool between he thumb and forefinger.

okay. daniel refuses to examine why this makes him feel relieved. 

"same for me maxy, we can be alone together, eh?" daniel says.

"sure, daniel. that sounds good," max says, smiling over at him. 

once back home, they carefully unload the plane inside daniel's barn.

"if you want to try and find out what's broken, i can fix us some lunch?" daniel suggests.

max nods abesentmindely at that, already inspecting the sidepod of his plane. 

while heating up some of his mum's tomato soup and browning some baguette in the pan, daniel peers out the window to see max extracting his arm from inside the side of his plane and loads of wires hanging out. he sees max huff a deep breath and scratch his hair on the back of his head quickly. 

that doesn't look like a quick fix. daniel opens the window and yells "max, food is ready, if you wanna come back inside."

max startles slightly where he's standing, eyes searching for daniel before finding him. then max nods, picks up his water tumbler and starts jogging inside.

"i warmed up some tomato soup. i reckoned you'd like it since you liked 'em well enough this morning," daniel explains. 

he sets a bowl down in front of max and puts a smaller plate with some slices of baguette next to it, handing max a spoon along with it. 

he grabs his own bowl and sticks the baguette straight into his soup. climbing onto the barstool next to where max is still hovering. 

"you not hungry yet? i'm starving," asks daniel at max's hesitation, taking a bite of his baguette.

"you remembered," max says quietly.

"hm?" hums daniel over his mouthful of bread. 

"keeping it separate," max clarifies. 

"orgh myeah no biggie," daniel gets out. while hooking his ankle around max's chair to move it backwards for him to climb into.

"dig in, c'mon," daniel says. 

max's ears twitch again and it's much more obvious when he does it due to their pointy shape, almost like a cat. they look a bit red. max's cheeks look a bit pink, too now that daniel is looking at him. 

"mate, did you already get a sunburn out there? i need to find you some sunscreen, you look pink already," daniel says pointing at max's face. 

at that max quickly ducks his face downwards and starts climbing on the barstool quickly.

"sunburn? what's that?" max asks.

"if you stay out in the direct sun for too long, your skin get damaged and itchy. it might start to peel. well at least humans do," daniel says.

"i don't think it's that," max says matter of factly. 

"no, what is it then?" daniel asks.

"i'm just a bit nervous. it's okay," max says, lifting his spoonful of soup in front of his face to inspect it closely. 

"why're you nervous? it's just me," daniel asks, curious.

"well yes, but you are of course very beautiful as i said before," max  says in the most nonchalant tone, still focused on the consistency of the soup. like it's a simple fact of the universe. grass is green. daniel is beautiful. he's not felt beautiful in a little while and definitely nobody's said it to him for even longer. well, except max.

"oh," is all daniel can respond.

"mating season is coming up anyway so it's no surprise that i react like this. it's not personal. well it is because you are attractive of course but pay it no mind. i will deal with it," max continues. "in any case, i think the combustor is broken in my plane, and some electric circuits were fried upon entry into your atmosphere so i'll have to rewire lots of parts. it will be a bigger job than i had hoped. it might be best for me to focus on fixing the communicator first," max explains.

"sure," daniel says. he hadn't internalised much of that as he was still stuck on attractive and mating season and what. 

daniel shakes himself out of it and says "take as long as you need. it's really no biggie."

at that max stops meticulously tearing his bread into small chunks and looks over at daniel, blue eyes on full display. they pop more with the pink flush in max's cheeks, this close.

his lips pull into a bright smile, lip freckle stretching with it. 

daniel hadn't noticed it before but now, in the daylight, up close, it's like his entire focus zeroes in on it. daniel wants to scrape his teeth over it. 

fuck. 

[sysakiddo]

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.

[sysakiddo]

1,2,3,4,5

To add insult to injury, 007 is already in his office when he opens the door. To his credit, Max only skips a beat before moving again. 

Daniel is holding a prototype of a new grenade Max’s been working on in his hands. 

“Don’t touch that,” Max barks out and Daniel smirks. “In fact, don’t touch anything in here.” 

Daniel has his feet on Max’s desk, the leather of the shoes glimmering in the bright light. “I didn’t even touch anything,” he drawls, which makes Max sigh. He knows Daniel touched all of the weapons in the room the second he entered it. Agents are predictable like that. 

“Who let you in?” 

Daniel shrugs, tossing the grenade from one hand to another. Max is ready to fight him. It must show on his face because Daniel yields without him saying anything else. “It was the new guy.” 

Max opens the door again and yells an angry “Liam!” tapping his foot impatiently. He should have already checked his messages four minutes ago. 

Daniel makes a face and says under his breath, “not good, not good,” but to be completely honest, he is glad he escaped Q’s wrath. For now. 

The new guy shows up and immediately gets pale when he sees the mood Max is in. 

“You can’t let strangers into my office without me. That’s honestly unacceptable and if it happens again, I won’t have no choice but to report it.” 

Liam gulps, trying to find a good enough excuse not to get fired. “I am sorry, I thought, well - He is your agent. He told me you were expecting him.” 

Your agent. Max wills down the electricity that runs through him. 

“And you trusted him? Honestly, I am disappointed. That will be everything.” He turns around and closes the door again. Daniel expected him to make him stand up from his own chair, but Max surprises him by plopping down on the chair across from him, which is meant for the visitors.

Max doesn’t say anything else, just focuses on massaging his forehead, where he has been feeling a throbbing pain since he woke up. 

“That was brutal, Q.” 

Max huffs. “Well, maybe his day would have been nicer if you didn’t fuck him over,” 

Daniel’s smile is so sharp it looks macabre. “I want to return to the field,”

The blonde tries to calculate if he can take another pain medication so early after the previous one. “Splendid, did you just return from the centre? I haven’t received the certificate yet, that’s weird. I’ll call them,”

Daniel is quiet for a beat too long, and it makes Max look up from his phone. 

“I’ve done them a week ago,” 

Max has seen the results. He has barely passed the physicals, limited rotation in his wrist, it said. He completely failed his psych evaluation, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, insomnia. Agent referred to therapy and not allowed to carry out any tasks until further evaluation. 

The note next to Daniel’s photo at the top of the document was blaring red. 

“Yeah, go there again, you know the procedure,” Max rolls his eyes. Daniel is not a rookie and he is making him lose time. 

He is still holding the damn grenade. “I’m not going to pass them,” 

Max shrugs, “Nice, paid vacation,” he says, like he hasn’t checked if Daniel has already visited the mandatory therapy sessions. He would rather die than watch Daniel become as broken as Sebastian is. “Now, if you excuse me, but some of us don’t have that and need actually to work, so like - fuck off, yeah?” 

“Q, I said I want to get back,” 

The throbbing behind his eyes is slowly blinding him. He is pretty sure he tastes copper on his tongue. “And I said come back when the med teams clear you. What does that have to do with me?” 

Daniel clicks his tongue, his hold on the grenade steady. “Well, for one, you are my quartermaster. You are also the only person who can fake the clearance.” 

The worst thing is that Max feels like he should have predicted this. He should have known. 

“I’m going to report you to your superior officer,” he says, voice like ice. Max regrets getting out of bed today.

Daniel’s right eye twitches. “I dare you to knock on M’s door right now.” 

Daniel noticed Max’s contempt for the older man a long time ago. He secretly thinks it’s because M doesn’t let him test his gadgets on mice. 

Truthfully, Max thinks it all started when Lewis took away his lion plushie when he was 10, claiming it was too childish. 

“I want to get back,” Daniel says again. “We need to finish this,” 

Max is so tired. “What’s in it for me? Why would I endanger my agent?” 

“Q, you are not finding him without me,” 

Max averts his gaze and huffs out a puff of air. “006 has actually done a good job-” 

“It’s not good enough, we both know it.” Daniel finally puts the grenade on the table. “Meet me at nine, we have to talk this through somewhere that’s not here,”

Max did his own mandatory six-month health check-up just a few weeks ago. The psychiatrist made him do word associations at the end of the session. He did well, like always.

But then the shrink said weak and the first thing that came to his mind was me.

[sysakiddo]

1,2,3,4

The atmosphere at the dinner is strained. Seb keeps talking and talking from his seat at the head of the table. Max chews his broccoli with distaste.

He is talking about the neighbors. Max has no idea why. It’s only when Seb utters his name that he snaps his attention back to the older man. 

“You wanna play some padel on Tuesday?” 

Max shakes his head, but doesn’t give an explanation. Seb frowns. For a few minutes, the only thing that fills the silence is their utensils scraping the plates. 

“Maybe a movie night, then?” Seb tries again, can’t help himself. 

Max sighs and puts down his knife. “Do I fucking look like I have time to watch a movie with you?” 

Sebastian is frozen at Max’s tone. They can all hear how loudly he gulps. Max’s stomach tightens. 

“Of course, you are right. I’m sorry,” 

Max can see it, can see how much Seb values his presence. He says nothing but he lets Seb put his palm over Max’s. Max knows the gentleness of his violent touch. 

He makes a decision then. “Either you tell him or I will,” he says lowly. 

The man sitting across from him narrows his eyes. Max doesn’t avert his gaze. 

Lewis slaps the table so hard that their wine glasses shake. 

Sebastian flinches and not for the first time, Max thinks it’s striking, how sensitive he has been lately. It’s getting bad again, he knows. 

“I just wanted to have a nice, calm dinner!” Lewis exclaims accusingly. 

“And I wanted to have a fucking steak, but it looks like we all can’t have what we want,” The grilled seitan on his plate looks particularly sad. 

Lewis points a finger at him, eyes full of fire. “Can’t you at least show a bit of respect to your father and shut the fuck up for one night a week?” 

“So you’re not going to tell him?” Max laughs bitterly. Sebastian’s eyes are so wide and blue. He could be his real father in another universe.

Lewis just purses his lips and looks at his husband before saying, “Jos came back,” 

The gasp Seb lets out makes a shiver run down Max’s back. “We can’t find him. We’re not sure what he’s after, either.” 

Max’s mom brought him to Sebastian when he was six, begging for him to spare his life. At least, that’s what Papa had told him. She didn’t live long enough to share her side of the story. 

Now, he looks absolutely devastated. He stands up and walks to the kitchen counter, where he fills a glass of water with shaking hands. Lewis goes after him, touches his shoulder in a comforting gesture. 

“I would like to be alone,” Sebastian shakes him off and walks away. 

Lewis turns on his heel and Max expects it, expects the vile words but it still makes his shoulders climb to his ears. “You just fucking have to ruin everything, don’t you?” 

Max shrugs, eats the last piece of broccoli on the plate to hide his hurt. “You think it makes his condition better, us fighting?” Lewis knows exactly where to hit him. “Get the fuck out.” 

Max stands up, leaves through the door Lewis is pointing at.