Brad glanced at Max while he was driving, before concentrating back to the road, and listening a bit more to the little talking. It was a good thing that they'd run into Fernando, because a few questions later, and Max was babbling all about Fernando's career and about which races Max had seen life when he had been little.
The sentences were a bit disjointed, and the vocabulary limited, but he was getting his point across, all the time the fingers kept on fiddling with the small bag around his waist, almost a nervous habit.
Parking the car at the airport, he checked it out and returned the keys and then he held Max's his hand tightly in his.
"Stay close, okay?" Bradley said to Max, who nodded, and huddled close to him falling silent now that they were surrounded by more people. Luckily, they had the private jet ready for them, and Bradley expertly guided them through the throng of people until they reached the correct exit.
Their luggage was safely handled and put in the hold before they entered the plane, and Bradley was glad to see Christian in there as well, the team leader having decided to take the plane with them seeing the circumstances.
The man looked up when they entered and smiled.
"You got here safely?" Christian asked, getting up and going to them. Max let out a startled sound when he heard the man, and quickly went to hide behind Brad. It was clear that he hadn't expected anyone to be in there.
"Yeah, we did," Brad said, feeling the little's hands holding his shirt in tight fists.
"And where is Maxie now?" Christian asked with a smile and the humor clear in his voice. Max made another small sound, and dug his face in between Brad's shoulder blades, "we can't leave without him,"
"You're absolutely right. Now, where did I put him?" Bradley asked, mock serious, tapping his chin with his finger. Another small noise came from Maxie, and a small tug was felt on his shirt, the little pulling back a little so he was visible, a small flush on his cheeks.
"Oh, there is Max," Christian said with a smile, and Max looked at the ground, biting his lips nervously.
"Sorry," the little said, trying to make himself seem smaller than he was, a look of guilt and anxiety on his face.
"Sorry? What for?" Brad asked surprised, not having expected an apology.
"Hiding," Maxie said, nervously looking up at Brad as if he expected to be in trouble, "late?"
"Oh, no, we are still on time, don't worry," Brad said.
"Maxie, you're not late at all," Christian said, smiling at the little, "we're going to leave in ten minutes or something, so you still had time to spare,"
"Oh, that's good then," Maxie said, feeling a little relieved. Christian smiled again, and went to his seat, buckling in. Brad took it as a signal and guided Max to a seat as well, not feeling happy that their playing made Maxie feel the need to apologize.
"Here, let's get us all buckled in safely for the trip," Brad said, trying to not put any attention to it. He pulled the belt over Max, and made sure it was locked tightly. The little sat still enough until the airplane started to go up.
Maxie kept wiggling in his seat suddenly, whining softly and pressing the neck of his shirt in his mouth at the unpleasant sensation of the airplane taking to air, his ears popping slightly, and his stomach feeling woozy.
"Shh, it's almost over," Bradley said, patting Max's hand and holding it until the unpleasantness was over. Once they were up in the air, and they could unbuckle, the little had calmed down enough, and just sat in his seat, looking out of the window with disinterest.
Bradly made sure to stay close by, and talked a bit about small things, but barely received an answer. Max sometimes glanced his way, before looking away. He kept on twitching and fiddling though, and soon he had bunny's ear out of the little bag, chewing on it while he looked around.
It did surprise Brad that he wasn't out of his seat yet, normally easily bored when his mind wasn't occupied. Glancing subtly, Bradley checked if he had indeed opened the belt, but he had, and he had no clue why Max wasn't bored out of his mind yet and just kept on sitting in the chair.
"Brad, can I have a moment of your time?" Christian asked, interrupting his train of thoughts.
"Sure. Do you mind staying here on your own?" Brad asked Maxie, who looked up at him, the tip of the bunny in his mouth.
"Go far?" he asked Brad, who shook his head.
"Just over to Christian," Brad answered.
"Okay, bye bye," Max said, his gaze sliding to the window again, shifting slightly in his seat, and Brad wondered for a moment if his behind was hurting still.
"So, what is it?" Brad asked once they were out of earshot. He was quite sure that Max wasn't supposed to overhear, otherwise the man would have just talked to him when he was with the little.
"I got some news that Jos is also going to the same place as we are," Christian said, looking unhappy, but calm as usual, "I don't think it's a good idea for Max to know,"
"No, that doesn't seem like a good idea," Brad agreed, feeling concern for the little, "can't we do anything about it?"
"No, I'm afraid not. He's allowed to be in the same country as Max," Christian said, "I'll make sure to speak to security at the paddock, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up, just in case,"
"Yeah, that's better. You never know if he tries to contact Max," Brad said, and Christian nodded.
"So, and for the rest, how is it going?" Christian asked, smiling when one of the onboard staff brought him some soup, Brad declining for the moment, saying that he would eat when he was with Max.
"You know, it's a bit difficult now because we don't know his headspace very well. He's not very sure of himself, and to be honest, neither am I, but we'll figure it out," Brad explained, looking down at the soup Christian was eating, a frown appearing on his face. Then he looked around and saw Max sitting in his seat, soup in front of him.
And on him.
"Oh, darling, look at you," Bradley exclaimed loudly, getting up and going over.
Max looked up at the caregiver. So far, the flight hadn't been interesting, but he kept nicely in his seat. He actually wanted to go look around, already bored out of his mind, but he had been afraid that the caregiver would get cross at him.
Max knew he wasn't allowed out of his seat until the caregiver told him he could. It was an important rule. Dad had always made sure that Max knew that he ought to stay where he put him and he had heard a lot of caregivers telling their littles to stay put, so Max tried his best to be good.
So, even though he was bored as hell, he stayed in his seat, making sure to keep bunny ear close to him. He was chewing on it, but he also whispered things to it, knowing that bunny would hear him. He kept himself busy like that, softly talking about the little things he saw and how much he missed bunny, making sure that the caregiver couldn't overhear.
Christian soon took Brad away from him, and Max didn't know if he was relieved when he was suddenly on his own, or sad. The second feeling was quickly shaken off. Of course, he shouldn't be sad. Bradley needed to listen to the boss, who paid the man, and it wasn't as if Max needed a lot of attention right now.
Still, he felt a little pang at the easy way the man stepped away from him. He hadn't even said that Max could go out the seat yet, and he was getting really bored now, the salve on his behind having little effect now to dull the pain.
Sliding down with a little huff, he tried to ignore that it turned into a sniffle, and he made sure to hug bunny ear tightly.
"Do you want some food?" the onboard staff said, and Max sat up a little, startled to be spoken to.
"What is it?" Max asked, looking over with curiosity.
"Some tomato soup," the woman said with a smile, and Max nodded eagerly. He was feeling a little hungry now, and when she put the bowl in front of him, he waited until she was gone before he took the spoon, ready to eat. The first spoonful, he managed to put it in his mouth, spilling half of the contents over the side of his face, making it drip down his chin.
Frowning, he wiped it away, making his hand icky, but his stomach growled, so he took a second spoon, this time managing to spill all over his shirt before it reached his mouth. Frowning, he tried a third spoon, kind off reaching his mouth, but also managing to get his cheek.
By the time Brad turned around to look at him, he was covered in the substance, somehow even gotten some on his forehead when he wiped through his hair, having forgotten that his hands were dirty.
"Oh, Maxie, look at you," Brad said, sounding a bit amused and looking slightly worried at the same time, "you're supposed to eat soup not wear it,"
"Know that," Max said, embarrassed, "am eating,"
"Yes, I see," Brad said half amused while Max tried to get the spoon his mouth, spilling half of its contents, "here, give me that spoon,"
Max let the spoon be taken from him without putting up any resistance, knowing that he had fucked up. He was still hungry, but he had made it more than clear that he wasn't capable of eating now. Still, Bradley was his trainer, so he knew Maxie should eat, so perhaps he would relent.
"Braddy, hungry," Max said, trying to pretend he was bigger than he was, hoping that the man would just give him his spoon back.
"Ah, I know," Brad said with a frown, taking a tissue and trying to wipe Max's face and hands as good as possible, "your clothes are dirty already, and we only have a change in the luggage,"
"Oh," Maxie said, looking down at himself, feeling bad about it. "Braddy mad?"
"No, I'm not mad," Brad said, quickly sitting down and trying to not look so stressed, "I just wanted to make sure you had clean clothes, but you can wear a sweater over it until we do,"
"Okay," Maxie said, looking longingly at his soup. Perhaps he could eat more from the main. The soup was runny and difficult to eat, but lunch should be all solid, and that should be easier to eat, right? Suddenly, he was distracted from his train of thoughts when a spoon appeared in front of his face.
"Here you go," Bradley said with a smile, and Max looked at him, then he tried to take the spoon, but Brad kept it out of his reach. Tears sprung in Max's eyes when he realized the caregiver was making fun of him. A frown on the other man's face when he offered again, and again Max reached out with his hand, so that Bradley had to pull it away before he created a bigger mess.
"Stop it," Maxie said loudly, angry, making Christian look at them with a puzzled frown.
"Max," Bradley said, a bit stricter than normally, "if you don't want the soup, you can just say so,"
"But, I want," Maxie said, trying to control the urge to cry. It wasn't fair from Bradley to do this to him.
"Then eat it," Bradley said, once again putting the spoon in front of his face. Once again Max tried to grab it, and Bradley pulled away the spoon with a sigh.
"Is no fun," Maxie said, his nose stuffy and trying his best to contain his tears, sniffling a little.
"What is no fun?" Bradley asked surprised and slightly irritating. He just wanted Max to eat instead of trying to play with the spoon, but the little kept on trying to grab it instead of just opening his mouth.
"Want to eat," Maxie said, "need spoon,"
"You can't have the spoon. You'll spill," Bradley answered, thinking it had been rather obvious.
"But..." Max said, trying to not to cry, but tears started to spill over. He hated it, being put in a dilemma that had no solutions and just made him look dumb, "can't eat without spoon,"
Bradley looked at the little, who was now just a ball of misery, tears leaking down his face, and looking sad and angry at his soup.
"Maxie," Bradley said, thinking that he was understanding now what was going on, "I'm just holding the spoon for you. All you need to do is open up,"
"Open up?" Maxie asked surprised, looking at Bradley, who nodded with a comforting smile.
"Yes, aaa," he said, holding up the spoon, and Max's eyes widened in understanding, opening his mouth and getting the spoon in.
Now Maxie understood what was going on, it was a lot simpler, even though Bradley felt bad at being irritated before. He had just thought that Maxie was trying to cause a mess on purpose.
He guessed he still needed to learn a lot about Maxie, beginning with realizing that he had to start from the ground with Max. But he knew that they would get there.
Brad breathed a sigh of relief when the rest of the soup went in easier, Maxie sometimes still managing to spill a little from his mouth, and all in all it was eaten cleanly enough.
Now the rest of the lunch.