Going out of the room, Maxie tightened his grip ono Brad's hand, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. Self-consciously, he took his thumb out of his mouth and resisted the urge to try and get out of headspace. Not that he could right now, but he would be able to try and probably start inbetweening.
Swallowing, he followed Brad to the elevator, looking around to see if it was just the two of them and managing to almost trip up with his attention scattered.
"Careful there," Brad said, stopping and looking Max over, "you're okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, no owie," Maxie said softly, feeling a bit embarrassed. They hadn't even managed to walk towards the elevator and he was already doing stupid things like that, "sorry,"
"It's okay, it happens. I'll try not to go too fast," Bradley said with a smile, taking the handle of the luggage in one hand, and Max's hand in his other. This time, Maxie made sure to look at his feet, not wanting to trip over again and worry Brad needlessly.
The man had slowed down a little already, and Maxie was glad because it was always more difficult to walk when he was in his little space. It made him feel rather unbalanced, but now he was scared that they would be late because he couldn't walk like a normal person.
They reached the elevator without any further mishaps, and Max breathed a sigh of relief when Brad minutely let go of the luggage and pressed the button towards the parking lot. Somehow, it made him happy that Brad kept a tight hold on his hand even when they were standing still.
Waiting while the elevator went down, Max nervously wiggled on his feet, tugging a bit on the bottom of his shirt in an effort to keep his hand occupied and not put his thumb in his mouth. He knew that was icky, and he normally only very rarely did it, only when he wanted the extra comfort and security, and only when he was 100% sure no one could see him.
He never had done it very often, because Maxie knew that it would create a habit, and those habits sometimes carried over to big headspaces. Everyone had seen Lando suck his paci in public even when he had been big, and Max was just scared that he would accidentally pop his thumb in his mouth, and everyone would notice what a icky baby he was.
But now, that wasn't so bad, right? Dad would say it was gross, but Bradley seemed to be okay with him being small. Of course, sucking his thumb might just be a bit too far. Max wouldn't like it if anyone would touch him with their wet fingers.
The elevator stopped, pulling Max from his thoughts, and Bradley once again pulled him along.
"Let's go get to the car," Bradley said, and Maxie nodded, holding tight. Once again, he made sure to concentrate on his steps, keeping his gaze fixated on the floor.
He could hear footsteps echoing in the parking lot, and each time the approached, he pressed himself closer to Brad. Maxie was so focused keeping his steps even, that he didn't even notice when Bradly tried to pull him to the side a little.
A sharp tug on his hand made him look up, but it was too late to avoid the the person who standing with his back aimed to them.
"Oof," Maxie, said when he bumped, almost losing his balance again.
"Oh, watch where you're going," Fernando said, turning around to see who had bumped into him. The look of slight annoyance quickly disappeared when he saw Maxie looking at him with big eyes.
The little suddenly felt nervous, standing in front of the older driver in the grid. Fernando had always defended him even when he was 17 years old and ready to tackle F1 and no one gave him even gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Would he be like his dad, and believe that littles have no place on the grid? Standing still in front of the man, Max tried to pull himself up and at least look a little older then he did now.
Fernando looked in surprise at Max, glancing at his trainer, and the hand they were holding.
"So, you're little then?" Fernando asked awkwardly, having heard the recent news and the fluttering of media attention towards it. He would have said it came as a surprise, but somehow it all made sense to him, even if he hadn't realized it earlier.
At his question, Maxie made a small noise while he flushed and nodded. A nervous shifting of his legs followed and his free hand clutched the little hip bag tightly. For a moment, Fernando thought that Maxie would cry, his eyes screwing up a little, and he could hear a soft gasp coming from him.
"Hey, you okay?" Fernando asked, taking a step closer, and Max took a step back, bumping into Brad. Another whimper escaped him while he tried to bury deeper in himself. He felt Brad release his hand, and felt his stomach drop.
"Bunny," Maxie whined, desperately wanting to have the stuffy with him now he was going out and let people see him in his headspace. Bunny was always with him when he had been little before, and he need shim now.
"Bunny?" Fernando asked, blinking at the little who was now trying to curl up in himself. He glanced at the trainer when Max just tugged his shirt and grasped the hip bag even harder. The caregiver put his arm around Maxie, thinking the little would be better off with the bigger contact then just holding hands.
"It's...uhm, was his stuffy," Bradley answered, hugging the little close. Max seemed turned to him with big eyes, and seemed to calm down even just a little bit.
"Okay," Fernando said blinking at the explanation, not really understanding. The trainer looked hesitant, as if he was unsure that he should share this information, so Fernando turned his attention back to Maxie, "so, you want bunny?"
"Yes," Maxie said, now capable of communicating again. The thought of his bonny made his nose stuffy though, and he blinked back the tears that were forming in his eyes.
"Where is bunny now? In your luggage?" Fernando asked, wanting to help the little feel more comfortable.
"No, dad has it," Maxie said in a tiny voice, and Bradley looked pained. Fernando blinked in surprise at the little's words.
Everyone by now had heard what had been said during the press conference the day before. Christian had been clear that Max's dad was persona non grata right now. Looking hesitantly at the almost crying little, he could easily deduce that Jos having Max's stuffy wasn't a positive thing.
"Did he take it from you?" Fernando asked softly, seeing the tears start to leak from Max's eyes while he nodded, "oh, poor thing,"
"Got ear," the little said wiping his tears, "Maxie is okay, see, got ear,"
Maxie knew he shouldn't be such a baby about it. How, he could just hear his dad shouting at him for being so emotional about the stuffy, and that there were dozens more if he really wanted one.
Fernando looked at him with a hurt look, so Maxie had to make sure that they knew that it was okay. He still had a piece of bunny. That was better than nothing. He unzipped his little bag and let Fernando look inside. The piece of fabric didn't look to be in a very good condition, and Fernando couldn't help but look at Brad with an angry puzzled face.
Why would Max say that Jos had bunny while he had an ear in his bag?
"Jos got mad at Max yesterday. I guess this is how he decided to hurt Max," Bradley said softly, while Maxie went to lean a little closer, whimpering a little while he heard the explanation.
"Well, the man always had a short temper," Fernando said, before aiming his attention back to Max, "listen here, don't let that man get you down, okay,"
"Kay," came the soft voice, sounding slightly sad, "Maxie has ear, Maxie happy,"
Fernando looked hesistantly at Max, who tried to smile at him, but then failed and just ducked against Bradley. Staring at the pair in front of him, he was feeling apprehensive about leaving, but he couldn't help but notice that Max was seeking comfort from Brad.
"Well, I need to catch my flight," Fernando said, "take care,"
Bradley nodded, almost hearing the 'of him,' at the end of the sentence while Fernando left. µ
"We should go as well," Bradley said, smiling at Max while he took up his hand again.
"'Kay," Max said, softly, looking a little subdued. They walked further towards the car, their steps echoing.
"Fernando is nice, right?" Bradley asked, hoping to get the silent Max to open up a little, "he's a bit like the grampa on the track, but he's a nice grampa,"
"Grampa," Max said with a giggle and a grin, his eyes bright even though his cheeks were still a bit red from crying before. Bradley looked at the little in surprise, especially when he didn't say anything else, just put his thumb in his mouth and giggled again.
"I did something wrong here," Bradley said, knowing the way littles choose titles for persons near to them, most commonly for their daddies and mommies, but also for uncles and aunts, and sometimes for their grans and gramps. Bradley could imagine that Fernando wouldn't like to find out what Max had decided to call him, "please don't tell him this is my fault,"
"Fault?" Maxie asked, tilting his head and not understanding. Brad knew that in his little headspace nothing was wrong or weird about this.
"Never mind, let's hurry before we're too late," Bradley said, ushering Maxie in the car and helping him buckle in.
Fernando was looking subtly at the man the cap and the facemask hiding most of his features, his bag opened, and Fernando though he could just glimpse something...
"Business class is over here, sir," the stewardess said when he stood still and was blocking the road for other people.
"Ah, yes, right," Fernando answered, looking around and frowning "I think I like this seat better. Can I change?"
The woman looked at him in surprise, rarely getting the question to downgrade the seat, especially for a long flights.
"If the person off the seat doesn't mind," she said faintly, her confusion showing, but Fernando just smiled, and asked, and now Fernando was sitting here in the cramped backrow, continuing his stare.
Yeah, it definitely was Jos, the build and the mannerisms were the same. He guessed with the recent news, the man would feel the need to cover up. He hadn't expected to find him on the flight to the new venue, and he was feeling slightly apprehensive about why Jos felt the need to follow the F1 around, especially now he wasn't allowed near Max anymore.
Fernando kept his focus on, and was happy when Jos finally got up from his seat, and went to the bathroom. The moment the man was out of sight, Fernando picked up his bags and quickly moved towards the now vacant seat, glad that the man's bag had been left there.
"Hey, what are you doing..." the man in the nearby seat asked, and Fernando put his finger on his mouth, and saw the surprise when he was recognized.
"Oh my god, Alonso?" the man gasped out, and he grinned.
"Want an autograph?" he asked, taking a cap out of his bag at the eager nod and signed it. The man was still grinning and looking at it in admiration while Fernando opened Jos's bag and grinned. It seemed like he had seen correctly.
Picking up the one eared bunny he looked it over. It seemed rather old and well loved already, the only real harm to it was the missing ear and the fluff sticking out of the hole.
"What's that?" the man besides him asked, looking curiously at the bunny. Fernando quickly put it in his own bag.
"Something for a friend. Could you do me a favor. Can you not tell the man that I'm here and I took anything out of his bag?" Fernando asked, "I know him. Don't worry, the owner of the stuffy won't mind,"
"Don't worry, I won't tell," the man said grinning, hiding the cap in his bag. Fernando grinned, and went back to his cramped seat, wishing that he could go switch his seat back now he had the bunny, but knowing it was unlikely.
Shifting in his seat, he searched for a good position to take a nap in, hoping to pass the next few hours asleep.
The things you did for the kids on the grid.