#Null States

[living400lbs]

"I have to admit,” Roz says, knowing this verges on the offensive, “I don’t understand why people would fight over this desert.”

Malakal looks amused. “Is it your experience that people fight over worthwhile things?”

A fair point.

- from Null States by Malka Older

[just-null]

the way you drew kokichi .. i think im ascending to the heavens .. i see the light .. chest collapsing .. heartbeat flatlining ..

oho, a Kokichi enjoyer!! tysm!! it was my first time drawing him at the time so im glad i didnt fail him. i dont want to fail any of the kyoto group. i love them all!! even w my clear favoritism

he's nice too, a bit more expressive than Noritoshi so i can finally draw something that isnt :| or >:( even if it isnt by much- i like him too

I like how he's both a dick but also kinda sweet. He's a different flavor of tsun... i can use this. my knowledge on him is limited but FROM WHAT I SAW IN THE WIKI OH MY GOD???????? OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!! KOKICHI!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thegreenhordes]

Twilight's Notes. Case File: Nurse Redheart

Incident Report: Unfortunately, it seems Cheerilee progressed to a stage 2 Growler last night during Nurse Redheart's rounds. She has been helping a lot with research and keeping both the later and early stage infected as healthy as possible. However, during a routine checkup with Cheerilee, she surpassed the previous expected progression rate by almost a week and attacked Nurse Redheart as she was preparing to leave. Her teeth tore right through the protective gear and into her side. Luckily stage 2 Growlers don't often perform persistent attacks and once Redheart was bitten Cheerilee backed off. Redheart was able to leave the room without further incident and immediately locked herself in another observation room. Only time will tell if she'll recover, she already has a fever.

Day Three: Early infection has taken full hold and prognosis isn't good. We've administered every medication at the highest safe dosages and kept Nurse Redheart on bed rest but treatment hasn't done much good. Her sweating and lethargy is getting worse, and the bite wound has started to fester and ooze despite being kept clean and bandaged. I'm starting to worry that we might lose one of our best members of the medical staff. She tries to keep a brave face, but I can see the fear in her eyes. Medical supplies are running low- Some of the Pegasi have offered to go on a supply run for more, they'll be leaving later today.

Day Seven: It's almost midnight and Redheart has officially been declared unsaveable. I'm heartbroken, she and I had really started to bond. Knowing that her fate is sealed has me feeling horrible. Protective gear has been under review and stronger armored pieces are being considered. I can't let any more medical personnel get bit. I'm going to bed now, Redheart's sudden proclivity to staring is unnerving.

Day Eleven: We've had to keep all the lights off in the area around her room, she says the light feels like it's burning. The last thing I want is to hurt her. She may be infected, but so long as her mind remains intact I want to keep her comfortable. Aside from an abnormal degree of light sensitivity compared to other infected, Redheart seems to be progressing towards Type 1. No facial pustules yet, but she has the drool, persistent itching eyes and oozing bite. Irritability and Insomnia are also present. Her staring is indicative of a Type 2 however, so we're keeping observation to a minimum to avoid aggression. She keeps asking about 'the shadow ponies' she keeps seeing in her periphery. Hallucinations have been noted in her symptom file.

Day Nineteen: Something is wrong, Nurse Redheart has reached the point where she should be showing clear outward pustule growth and more aggressive tendencies- but she is currently the most docile of all the subjects. It's odd, I don't know what to make of it. Whenever somepony enters the hall of the observation lab she seems to be able to tell almost immediately and starts calling out to the visitor. But, when the visitor reaches her room she goes suddenly quiet and just stares at them from the far corner of the room. If they leave her sight she starts talking again, mostly greetings and simple requests. I visited her early this morning, and she called out to me "Oh hello, so nice to see you." Five. Times. Before I reached the observation window. Her voice was so... monotone. This doesn't feel like the normal progression paths that have been documented so far. She has pustules growing Inside Her.

Day Twenty-Three: New Data, Nurse Redheart was successfully sedated after multiple failed attempts over the last three days. Samples were taken from the pustules in her mouth and blood was drawn. I was also able to finally get a good look at her body. This isn't Nurse Redheart anymore. I don't think it has been for a while. She's still alive, there's breathing and a heartbeat, but her skin sags like there's something else wearing her hide. Examination of her extremities during sedation showed that her legs were malformed, like they'd broken in multiple places and healed over wrong. her teeth were normal, except for the four pointed fangs at the back of her mouth. I also looked at her eyes, and she- She Looked at me. Like the sedatives only immobilized her, but she was still awake. The samples taken from the infected revealed that it had indeed mutated. Nurse Redheart, or what is left of her, is now known in the infection logs as a "Type 3". Right now she is the only known Type 3. If she stays isolated then spreading this mutation can hopefully be halted- though recurrence in the wild isn't out of the realm of possibility. The others say I should nip this in the bud and put her down, we don't know what she's capable of. If she's still in an early stage of progression or if progression has stopped. She was still docile when she woke, but she doesn't speak to me anymore when I enter the lab. It knows that I know what it is, and what it isn't anymore, so the infected has ceased its communicative behavior.

Day Thirty: It screamed bloody murder when I entered the lab and wouldn't stop until I left. I've cast a spell to dampen the sound enough to do my work... I'll be suspending this study for the time being. Further Updates Pending.

[worldwhampion]

artemis in pseudo death

[legon751]

they selected me for neilson ratings (1 in 30k chance in my state) but i dont watch ANY tv. no cable no streaming literally nothing besides my self-hosted server and youtube which

i dont think either of those count

[bpdfav]

I will admit the Catra post was partially fuelled by spite.

It does please me to know that more people than I anticipated seem to be positive about pwBPD and Catra having BPD, based on my research and the interactions that post has had.

Unfortunately my Ex-Crush was not one of those people, and she was a huge Catra fan. So hopefully she sees that post and it makes her actually think about the actions she took.

Want to believe she’s a good person but.. y’know how it be with FPs who abandon you after saying they won’t.

[facilitydiner]

Hey, D-13... What do you know about the incident where someway, somehow, some of the diner's "secret sauce" ended up in Null's coffee? Seems like it was... an intense occasion.

[emystic]

Despite getting along well with her younger sister, Yela and even the null child and the human stowaway family relationships is not Zeki's strong suit. She doesn't have amount of closeness to her siblings her own age and seems to dislike being around Zesa the most, who she ironically now have to see everyday.

Many might dub it as "sibling rivalry", but the two are surprisingly quite harsh to the other even to the point downright callousness and rudeness. However, both seem to respect the other to some degree and will honestly admit it though not to each other.

A common issue they have is not seeing eye to eye on how Zesa's handles her pod (using frog terms, it's just their household). Zeki sees her clutch sister as having too much influence in their younger siblings decision, seeing the way she speaks to Yela on this current project and learning that Zesa told her superiors that Yela was meant to be a doctor; even stating that she's projecting herself onto to her and trying to make Yela act like her.

On the other hand, Zesa frequently counters to her that unlike Zeki and their other siblings she was the one that raised both Null and Yela since they was small and she's only one with actual children. Therefore concluding that Zeki have no right to question to her about her parenting as she barely was in their younger sister's life (though not of Zeki's choice, she is a warrior after all).

[doodlboy]

Y'all ever laugh so hard u start crying?? Like is that normal????

[living400lbs]

Why am I mentally picturing the entry hall in Amazon's Day One building as I read this?

"Mishima can’t help but notice how jittery he looks as they exchange formal cheek kisses and greetings. His file didn’t say anything about nerves. Maybe he’s amplifying the energy that pervades the building. Everyone is on their toes, speaking half a tone too high and two degrees too loud, playing with their cognitive calmers while they inhale espressos and blink through news alerts."

-from Null States by Malka Older

[just-null]

Man you're so cool and the way you colour is literally goals

I wanna be your friend so bad😔

you want to be my friend bc I color good? damn, who knew my rizz transcended through the screen. i guess they don't call me rizzler for nothin, heh..

[kabretoss]

it's like my name isn't my name, my body isn't my body. it's strange to accept a notion of dysphoria and fold that knowledge into myself, without a notion of what rightness would look like.

I think I have gotten over my youthful pathological hunt for "who am i". whatever it is that I am is simply whatever it is that I am. I can relax a little, let my arms rest from the desperate semaphore of normalcy ive been performing since i could talk. but some nights

I meet myself, looking at myself, and I'm struck

what would you be like, my dear, if you looked like what you looked like, if your name was your name

[sunkern-plus]

bi grey asexual grey aromantic androgyne and neutrois gaku yaotome who is exactly half woman and half man and a blend of woman and man at the same time, only his femandrogyne days are more “butchandrogyne” days, where he dresses like the butches inspired by james dean

nobody knows simply because he was too lazy to tell anyone and he figured it wasn’t important but kaoru was complaining about how nobody understands what it’s like to be trans sometimes he was like “i feel ya, i can barely tell anyone i’m a woman too because people don’t expect a big broad shouldered dude with a chest the size of mount fuji to be a woman,”  and she’s like “you get it! you get it! but i didn’t know you were a trans woman, yaotome-san!” and he’s like “not really a trans woman, more half and half, kind of an androgyne type fella, what’s it called...ryousei? i’m that.” and kaoru chuckles and is like “well, well, well! it might be time for me to introduce you to some of my x-gender ryousei friends!” and gaku’s like “oh, cool” and gaku makes a plan from then on out to meet more nonbinary people like him.

[faithfulcat111]

Me, pushing my phone over to Lo: Can you tell me what is happening to my boy?

Lo, just trying to play chess now looking at my order status: What the fuck?

[gorejo]

limerence - gojo satoru

fluff. satoru carries the reader because he's just strong like that, okay. mild cursing. best friends to lovers trope. unedited and wrote on a quick whim. reposted !

Gojo Satoru is at his wits end trying to kiss you.

Normally he’d be clueless, entirely ignorant of love. But when he felt the strange tingly sensation of his stomach, the apples of his cheeks feeling hot as he felt his heart loudly thump in his chest whenever you were near, that's when he sent an emergency call to Suguru to ask what the hell was going on.

"Are you an idiot?" his best friend teased, uncaring to stifle his laugh got Satoru even more irked. "it's called being in love."

"stop joking and be serious, Suguru." Satoru grumbled through the line as he ran his fingers through his hair, standing in front of the bus station.

"I am, and it's utterly baffling how you've just noticed —"

Your bus came. and everything else felt silent as he caught sight of you stepping out, looking around to find him.

so pretty. he thought while unknowingly smiling at you running over to him. "— ah Sorry, gotta go," Satoru mumbled before ending the call.

yeah, maybe then... that was when he knew he was in love.

So for weeks, he’s tried so hard to just have you kiss him. He’s laid out the moody atmosphere, said the cringiest lines, and had the most perfect date set up for you — there was no way you didn’t notice his eyes staring at your lips, absolutely no way.

Your responses?

“Aww 'Toru! I had so much fun!" or "that's so sweet of you!"

He’s wondered what dating you will be like. And in every conclusion he can’t help but feel that it was the right thing to do— to love you, to call you his — but he’s always stuck on the pendulum of what if he loses you?

His response?

"I spoil you too much."

"aww you love me though, right?" you naively chirped, pulling at his hand to hurry up.

"yea sure whatever." He’ll blatantly respond, feeling a null in his heart, accepting that maybe what he had with you was the best he’ll ever get.

So for months, he stayed silent about his feelings, afraid he would ruin things with you. Laughing it off when people would push you two together, hiding the heat of his cheeks as he looked away, using his height to his leverage to sneak a small glance to see your reaction. It was always the same, you'd state, "it's not like that, you guys!"

the fuck?

But you were easily forgiven when you’d shoot him an innocent smile back, mouthing a simple sorry — god, that smile made him feel queasy, downright lightheaded.

But one day, when he heard your drunken confessions about having a crush on him since the day he randomly met you, he started to become impatient.

"you know 'Toru—" you mumbled as he carried you home, arms steadily wrapped around his neck.

"Yea," he mindlessly responded, his attention fixated on your steady, light breaths and the nuzzling of your nose onto the crevice of his neck — fuck, it felt good.

His grip on you instinctively grew firmer as he continued up to your apartment, "I'm the best huh? When are you gonna fall for me?" he lightly joked, thinking not much of his words.

"mhm," your words effervescingly fell into his ears, "how'd you know? I liked you since we met at the arcades when we were younger, you know? the day you got into so much trouble for running away." Your dulcet giggles made him absolutely mad, "and I know you let me win, Satoru."

So he does the extreme and falls into a pool, acting like he can’t swim so you can save him. He can't help but mentally laugh when he was the one that taught you how to swim, and how you've forgotten that in sheer panic.

But if he were to die, he’d rather die having kissed you once than never. So he endures the discomfort and cold as he lays on the floor drenched with water while he hears you freak out about what to do.

“CPR, I-I should do that!” You anxiously muttered to yourself, your hands shaking from the adrenaline pumping through your blood, terrified that something might happen to your beloved friend.

"S-satoru! Can you hear me?!" you nervously shook his cold, unresponsive body, your small hands pushing against his firm chest as you pressed your ear to hear his heartbeat.

Your hands felt warm despite just being in the pool with him. He feels you cupping his face and yes, it's time! He mentally readies himself, slightly perking up his lips, for you to do mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths.

But you don’t. And his lips are still unoccupied, completely barren, deserted. Instead, your hands travel down to his chest to administer compressions, your lips hovering — teasing — over his.

no, he didn't need that. his heart was beating fine — too fine, in fact. Could you not hear his heart about to practically explode from his chest?

So he takes matters into his own hands and opens his eyes, his patience running thin as he pulls you effortlessly down with one hand by your neck, annoyed that you still didn’t get the hint.

“Are you just going to let me die?” He grumbled, his gaze traveling from your frightened eyes to your lips — so kissable, so pretty.

“S-Satoru! You’re okay —“Your expression immediately softens when you see his familiar azure eyes with your reflection on them — like always.

And before he lets you finish, and before he’ll let another damn moment pass for him to finally kiss you, he lands his lips onto yours.

And all his worries about ruining his friendship with you dissipate when he feels your body naturally just sink into his embrace, allowing him to continue kissing you.

He’ll probably hear an earful from you later, maybe even get one of your deathly — cute — glares as you exile him from sleeping over. But that’s alright to him because at least you’ve finally gotten the hint that your lips were finally his.

bear with me guys. i wrote this in ten minutes.... and I'm confused at myself for writing this because my hands are now clammy from all the fluff. holy moly

[theemporium]

[2.6k] following the aftermath of the impromptu vegas wedding, little leclerc and max navigate married life. and charles is still not coping well with the whole situation.

series masterlist

.

“Does this mean I get to sit in the Red Bull garage in Abu Dhabi?” 

Charles’ head snapped around, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flaring. And if he wasn’t currently on hold with the fifth lawyer he had contacted in the last hour, you could’ve sworn he would’ve jumped over the bed and smothered you with the pillow you were currently holding to your chest. 

“Don’t give me that look,” you muttered as you rolled your eyes. “Maybe I want a change of scenery. I’m always in the Ferrari garage.”

“You’ve seen the Alpha Tauri and the Alpine garage too,” Charles retorted. 

You shot him a blank look. “That’s because you have Pierre watching over me like a stalker.” 

“No, he’s just being your friend,” your brother tried again. 

“So him barking at the mechanic who was just getting me water had nothing to do with the promise you made him keep?” You countered, watching as a flush of pink spread across Charles’ cheeks. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he scoffed with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

“Liar, Pierre told me about the promise,” you mused, watching as his face burned even brighter at your admission. 

As it would turn out, finding a last minute lawyer to completely null and break the marriage was much harder than Charles ever intended it to be. And after he was practically forced to halt his attempts until the race had passed, the high of P2 didn’t seem to thwart your brother’s efforts in completely shattering the connection between you and Max Verstappen. 

He had spent every free and waking moment trying to sort out the mess, including now contacting lawyers back in Monaco to get involved. And yet, the boy seemed to be getting nowhere. 

“Shouldn’t you be focused on the last race of the season instead of this mess anyways?” You continued as your eyes glanced over at the clock on the wall. “We need to leave for the airport soon. I don’t think they are going to hold the jet because you’re phoning divorce lawyers—even if you’re Charles Leclerc.” 

“You seem eager to stay married to him,” Charles grumbled under his breath as he narrowed his eyes at you. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Was this planned? Have you been seeing him for a while now?” 

“Are you hearing yourself right now?” You shook your head, letting out a huff as you pulled the pillow closer to your chest. “How come Yuki isn’t getting as much shit as I am?” 

“Because Yuki is not my sister,” he stated simply, pausing for a moment before he continued. “Plus, Yuki and his partner seem very happily married.” 

You perked up a little. “Wait, you know who he married?” 

“Well no,” Charles admitted, his brows furrowing together. “But he must be, no? He’s been happy ever since the wedding. They must be keeping it private.” 

“Apparently he didn’t even tell Pierre,” you said to your brother, leaning back against the headboard with a sigh. “Maybe he’s embarrassed with who he married.” 

“Can’t be more embarrassing than marrying you—OW!” 

“Don’t say stupid things then,” you snapped back at him with an innocent smile on your face. “You’re just pissed I got married before you.” 

Charles’ glare hardened. “No, I’m pissed because you got married in Vegas of all places.” There was a pause. “And the fact you practically married a stranger!”

“Max is hardly a stranger, you’ve known him since you were like five years old!” You argued back.

“Still a stranger!”

“You are so dramatic,” you commented. “Maman accepted it, why can’t you?”

“Maman is confused,” Charles muttered with a crease between his eyebrows. 

You raised your brows. “Did you say that to her?”

Charles’ face paled a little. “Well no—”

Your grin widened.

Charles blanched. “Don’t you dare!”

You cackled as you reached for your phone. “This is payback for disrespecting me and my husband!” 

...

...

“I don’t understand why I have to be blindfolded.”

“It’s a precaution insisted by Christian.”

“Do all wives have to be blindfolded then?”

“The ones with the former name Leclerc do.”

You pressed your lips together to hide your smile as you wrapped your arms around Max’s bicep, letting him lead you into the Red Bull garage with the black cloth tied over your eyes. You knew you probably didn’t have long until Charles came running to drag you out of the Red Bull garage and back to the red side, so you took up Max’s offer in the meantime. 

You didn’t count on Christian Horner being two steps away from Red Bull’s very own Christian Grey to his garage guests. 

“Does this mean I get to blindfold you when you come to the Ferrari garage?” You asked, your voice lighthearted and your tone teasing. 

“It is one of the scenarios I would let you blindfold me,” Max answered and it took everything in you to not suddenly halt your steps. 

“Max Verstappen, you little flirt,” you said as you let out a disbelieving laugh, hoping the boy hadn’t turned back to look at you when you could feel your face heating up. 

“You’re my wife. Surely I’m allowed to flirt with you now,” the Dutchman retorted, his hands moving to rest over yours as you two finally came to a stop. 

“You’re saying you wouldn’t have flirted with me before?” 

“That feels like a trick question,” Max snorted before his fingers nimbly undid the knot behind your head, letting the blindfold fall away from your eyes as he stood in front of you with an almost smug look on his face. “But I would have flirted with you if I didn’t think your brother would have my balls for it.”

“So you just married me instead,” you retorted with a smile of your own.

“What can I say, I don’t half-ass things,” he said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

“I should have known you give the vibes of a Vegas wedding kinda guy,” you remarked as you blinked a few times, getting used to the shift in light as you began looking around the garage. It didn’t look too different from the Ferrari garage, but it was still intriguing to witness it all. 

A different team. A different car. A different work ethic. 

After so many years with Ferrari, it felt like being in a foreign country as you stood amongst so much blue.

“What kind of wedding would you have wanted?” 

The question snapped you out of your daze, whirling your head around to look at the Dutchman with a curious expression. You waited to see if a witty remark was going to follow, but he continued to stare at you expectantly and you realised he was genuinely waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know,” you answered honestly. “I mean, I know my mother always wanted me to have a fairytale wedding at some pretty venue in a white dress and—”

“I didn’t ask what wedding your mother would have wanted, I asked what wedding you would have wanted,” Max interrupted, and your lips parted a little in surprise. 

“A fun one,” you replied. 

Max’s brows furrowed together. “A fun one?”

“Yes, a fun one. You asked me what wedding I would want and it’s a fun one,” you repeated with a nod of your head, smiling a little at the visible confusion written across his face. “Everybody always talks about weddings being so intense and stressful and that’s just…not me. I don’t care about where it is or what season it’s held in. I would just want to be with the people I love and I want to have a good time.” 

He nodded, his lips pressed together as though he was processing your answer. “Surely the Vegas wedding fits that.”

“It would have if my family and friends were there,” you said, laughing a little. “Despite the dinner invite, Maman will probably string me up for not getting married with her there.”

Max’s eyes widened comically. “Wait, she was serious about that?” 

You snorted. “She’s already sent me the menu.”

“I am actually having dinner with your mother?” Max hissed and, for the first time in your life witnessed with your own eyes, you could have sworn he looked nervous.

“She won’t bite,” you laughed. 

“Oh my god, I am meeting your mother.”

“Well, she does want to meet the man I married.” 

“Oh my god, I am meeting your mother as your husband.”

...

...

“Be honest: would you have made me a bridesmaid at your wedding?” 

You blinked, looking up from the burrito bowl you had managed to grab from Ferrari’s catering before you looked at the blond across from you. 

“Or a bridesman. Whatever you call it,” Logan continued as he looked at you expectantly. 

You stared at the American with a fairly blank expression, though it didn’t seem to do much to his eagerness for you to answer the question. Though, you didn’t know why you were surprised about the whole thing. The last week had been Logan throwing random questions at you, Arthur laughing at your facial expressions and Oscar deeply sighing at the whole interaction. 

“You weren’t even invited to the wedding,” Oscar pointed out, poking about the salad bowl he had. 

“Neither were you,” Logan retorted.

“And thank god for that, Lando showed me the pictures,” Oscar grumbled with his nose scrunched up. “I would have been traumatised for life if I witnessed it with my own two eyes.” 

“Hey,” you frowned, kicking your foot out under the table until you hit his shin. “You know what, I’m suddenly excited not to see either of you during the winter break.”

Oscar snorted. “Sure.” 

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Logan piped up, his attention shifting to you once again. “Would you let me?”

“Depends,” you answered honestly as you leaned back in your seat. “Would you want to do a speech?”

Logan scoffed. “Obviously.”

“Then no,” you replied almost instantly.

The boy gaped at you. “What? Why not?”

“Because I don’t trust you,” you stated simply before you glanced over at Oscar too. “Neither of you, if I’m being honest.”

Oscar’s brows furrowed together. “Woah, what did I do?” 

“Existed,” you grumbled under your breath, only for the Australian to be the one to kick your shin under the table this time. “Ouch!”

“Not so fun, is it?” He grumbled back at you. 

“You didn’t even have a speech at your wedding! Surely no speech is worse than a bad one,” Logan added, far too invested on a speech you doubted he could even write.

“That’s not true. Yuki did a speech,” you told him.

Both boys’ raised their eyebrows. “He did?”

“Probably, seems like something he would do,” you shrugged. 

“Or maybe his partner gave it,” Oscar added. “Whoever that may be.”

“I can’t believe he still won’t tell us,” you said with your lips turned downwards. “In the Red Bull garage, Christian even asked him and he just giggled before running off.” 

“Maybe he’s a private guy.”

“You were in the Red Bull garage?” 

“Your difference in priorities are baffling,” you noted with an amused expression. “Yes, I was in the Red Bull garage. And Yuki being a private person is a load of bullshit. He’s the biggest gossip on the grid, he’s just sneakier than everyone else.”

“Which means he would hide it better,” Oscar pointed out. 

“At least Yuki would let me say a speech at his wedding,” Logan muttered under his breath.

“Would he though?”

“Shut up.” 

“I’m just saying—”

“You know what, I hope Lando scars you with more photos from her wedding,” Logan threatened, staring at the Aussie with narrowed eyes.

“Hey, my wedding photos aren’t that scary!” You frowned.

“The one of Max’s tongue down your throat says otherwise.”

“I am literally trying to eat my salad, can both of you shut up?”

...

...

“So, are we gonna talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Your wedding.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Ha! Sure!”

Max’s brows furrowed together as he lifted his head, only to find the Australian staring at him already. They had both been huddled in his driver room in between meetings and practise sessions, enjoying some peace and quiet before the social media team tried to rope them into some weird activity. However, what Max assumed would be a mostly silent hangout where he could read over some data quickly devolved into the older Australian making little remarks until he finally gave in and put his tablet down.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh nothing,” Daniel said as he gave the boy a casual shrug, though his grin only seemed to widen in response. Max was about to open his mouth, to tell him that was fine before he returned to his work, but the Aussie already began speaking again. “I just think it’s such a funny coincidence that your childhood crush is now your wife.”

Max froze, his cheeks instantly heating up at his words. “I don’t know what you’re on about.”

“No? The conversation where you told me you had the fattest crush on Charles’ little sister growing up and used to constantly try to impress her on the karting races she visited doesn’t ring a bell?” Daniel continued, feigning innocence despite the fact he could see Max’s face growing pinker by the second.

“I think you have the wrong person,” Max said as he cleared his throat, suddenly finding his tablet interesting once again even though the numbers and words on the screen were practically gibberish to his whirling mind.

“And the conversation where you couldn’t stop talking about how pretty she was when you bumped into her in the paddock on Charles’ first Formula One race?”

“You must have imagined that conversation.”

“What about the time you ignored that famous actor because Lando told you he flirted with her when he visited the Ferrari garage?”

“I have no recognition of that.”

“And the time you—”

“Is there a point to this?” Max suddenly interrupted him, his face feeling as though it was on fire and his heart beating wildly in his chest and the smug look on his friend’s face was doing little to help the feelings bubbling in his stomach. 

“I am just waiting to see when you’re going to admit you masterminded this whole thing,” Daniel said to him, so sure and blunt about the statement.

“I didn’t mastermind anything,” Max said with a frown. “We got drunk and we got married in Vegas. Many people have done it before us. Many people will do it after us too.”

“And the fact she was your first love?” Daniel questioned.

“She was not,” Max scoffed, pausing for a moment before he continued. “And even if she was, I don’t like her like that anymore.”

“Oh, of course,” Daniel snickered under his breath. “So I am assuming you’re rushing to help Charles find a divorce lawyer then?”

Max paused for a few seconds too long. “Yeah, I mean. After the last race, obviously. My focus needs—”

“To be on a race that has no effect on your life other than adding another trophy to your shelf?” Daniel teased. “As if you couldn’t be talking to lawyers on the radio whilst racing with your eyes shut.”

“It’s just not a priority right now,” Max huffed out, clearing his throat a little.

“Uh huh,” Daniel laughed, shaking his head. “You know, usually the first step is a date, not marriage but I am going to respect whatever lil’ mastermind plan you have concocted in your head.”

Max let out a whine, throwing his head back. “I don’t have a plan!”

Daniel raised his brows. “So inviting her to watch the race from the Red Bull garage is just a random act of kindness to the enemy then?”

“She’s my wife, not the enemy. And it’s not random at all.”

Daniel snorted.

“Oh fuck off,” Max grumbled. “This is why you weren’t invited to the wedding in the first place.” 

“Actually, you did—”

“Shut up.”

...

liked by arthur_leclerc, oscarpiastri, landonorris and 261, 738 others

yourusername season over and out🫡gonna go bully charles with the dutch national anthem for three months now

view all 13,547 comments

landonorris that's just evil

yourusername shut up or i will bully you too

landonorris why are you so rude when i am literally your personal photographer

yourusername you still made me pay for dinner

user IS THAT MAX???

user omg not the red bull/ferrari contrast

user i wonder how charles is taking this

arthur_leclerc still badly

oscarpiastri i have been begging for you to wear a mclaren cap all year

yourusername keep begging, loser

user the montagues and capulets could never

logansargeant i'm taking the blue as williams support too

maxverstappen1 keep telling yourself that

yourusername be nice

user HELP THE WAY HE IS PROTECTING THE RED BULL BLUE IN THE COMMENTS

user this is my roman empire

charles_leclerc take this down

yourusername no

charles_leclerc take this down please

yourusername still no

maxverstappen1 too much red

yourusername you said i looked good in red :(

maxverstappen1 i said you looked good in red bull merch, get your facts right

yourusername someone's cranky after all the shots last night

user THEY HAVE JUST ACCEPTED THE MARRIAGE AND BLATANTLY STARTED FLIRTING ON MAIN STOP

charles_leclerc why would you say this

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