Like Brad had expected, the rest of lunch was very interesting. It wasn't as if Max was trying to get dirty or to not cooperate, but his headspace was just a little on the young side, enough to make it difficult.
The big pieces were clearly disliked, and even though Max tried his best to chew them, it seemed like it just kept on slipping out of his mouth and down his chin, adding more stains to his shirt.
By the time that lunch was done, Max seemed to be wearing more than he had eaten, and Bradley had taken out the packet of wipes, trying to clean Maxie as good as possible, and even thought he face wasn't much of the problem, the shirt seemed to be unsalvageable.
"There, that's already a bit better," Brad said.
"Still sticky," Max said, pulling on his shirt and looking at it with a frown.
"I know," Bradley answered, having hoped that the little wouldn't have minded. A snort left Christian at those words, the man not looking to them while they were busy, and Brad ignored him for the moment.
"Don't like it," Max wanted to make clear, putting extra effort to pronounce the words very clearly?
"Well, how about we try to fix it then?" Bradley said with a smile, sounding more sure than he actually was.
"How?" Max asked, looking doubtfully at the caregiver.
"How indeed?" Christian muttered, keeping his eyes trained on the tablet on his lap, but an amused smile on his face, even when Bradley took a moment to glare at him. Max tried not to shrink in himself at the look, thinking that he had said something wrong when the sudden angry look appeared on Brad's face.
Feeling slightly nervous, Max put his thumb in his mouth to try and calm down, to not let anyone notice that he was feeling anxious, his hand going to the little sack with his bunny ear in. Bradley had made sure to put it back in there during lunch, and Max had listened, scared that he would dirty it otherwise, but now he wanted it back. But he was still dirty, so he couldn't.
Bradley turned back to Max, unable to hide a smile when he saw the little look up at him with big eyes, his thumb in his mouth. He looked so adorable for the moment, and Brad was glad that he had dared to put his thumb in his mouth.
"I think I got an idea," Bradley said with a smile, and Max blinked up at him, puzzled.
"You do?" Maxie asked, and Bradley nodded, ignoring the disbelief in the voice.
"I think we can take off your shirt, and then replace it with my sweater," Bradley said, and Max eyes widened, thinking it over. He would at least be stuck in his dirty shirt anymore and he could take out bunny ear again and whisper all that happened to it.
"Is good idea," Maxie said, happily surprised, and now feeling impatient to get out of his dirty shirt.
"Well, let's do it then," Bradley said, taking off Max's shirt who lifted his arms to help. The shirt was put inside out to make sure it wouldn't dirty anything and put to the side. Another wipe was used to clean the rest of Max's chest and then the oversized sweater was pulled over his head.
"Is warm," Maxi said, snuggling into it, liking the thick, soft fabric.
"Yes it is," Bradley said, sitting down next to Max, smiling at the little, "do you want something else?"
"Can I have bunny ear now?" Maxie asked hopefully and Bradley nodded, feeling sad for Max to only have that little thing of comfort.
As soon as Maxie got permission, he didn't waste a second opening the bag and hugging the ear close by, turning a little bit away. He curled up his legs on the seat, and tried to make himself comfortable as possible on the small space. Hugging the ear close, he made a startled noise when suddenly the seat went down a little.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Brad said with an apologetic smile, "I just thought it might be more comfortable,"
Max made a noise that could mean anything, and then turned away from Brad again, putting his thumb back in his mouth and facing the bunny ear again, trying to hide a yawn.
He hadn't slept very well, and now with a full tummy and a warm sweater he was feeling very comfortable and warm and very cozy right now. Ignoring the noise around him, he pulled the ear close to his mouth, trying to think what he wanted to tell bunny, his eyes falling close.
"He's asleep?" Christian asked when Bradley craned his neck to look at Maxie's face. A smile appeared on his face, and he fastened the seatbelt, just to make sure that Maxie wouldn't fall off when he was asleep.
"Yeah, he is," Bradley said with a big smile, coming over to Christian so their talking wouldn't wake up Maxie.
"That's good. Napping is quite common in his age space," Christian said, and Brad nodded, his smile disappearing.
"You know, I found him this morning, asleep in the bathroom," the man said, looking thoughtful.
"In the bathroom?" Christian asked, looking slightly concerned, but keeping calm like usual.
"Yeah. I think he got up for something in the middle of the night and tried to hide or something," Bradley said, looking a little put-off, "you think we're doing the right thing? I mean, asking Max to go into headspace so often, even though he doesn't have a real caregiver and all,"
"Why do you ask that?" Christian asked after a moment, his gaze thoughtful.
"Because I'm not sure that Max wants to be in headspace," Bradley said, trying to put his thoughts into words, "you know how bad it is to force anyone,"
"I think we have to look at it another way," Christian said, "Max is sick right now, and being in headspace is the thing that can heal him. We won't force him to go down when he doesn't feel like it. We'll try to go at his pace, don't worry,"
"And if he doesn't want to?" Bradley asked, and Christian looked slightly uncomfortable
"We can't force him," Christian said slowly, "but if the doctor thinks he's not good enough to drive, we can't let him,"
"But it's his life," Bradley said, looking in shock, "F1 is literally everything for that kid,"
"I know that, but we can't let him risk his own, or that of others. To be honest, it's either going in headspace and learning to accept it, or no longer being in F1," Christian said, "so, we must do all the things we can do to help him. And if he decides that he doesn't want to go into headspace, we won't force him, but we won't endanger any lives either. There is no compromise,"
"I understand," Bradley said, "I...I do think that disliking his headspace is more of a habit he learned from his father then his true self. I believe he'll like it, if he just let himself,"
"I hope you're right," Christian said, looking at Maxie, "he does seem comfortable around you,"
"Yeah, probably because we've been training together so long," Bradley said, glancing at Maxie with a gaze of affection.
"You sure Max doesn't have a real caregiver yet?" Christian asked with a look of amusement, making Brad look at him startled.
"Me? Oh, no, I mean, Maxie should be allowed to search one perfectly for him. I mean, I'm more then happy to do this for as long as he wants me, but ... I won't get in the way if he finds someone better," Brad stuttered out, trying to not let his thoughts go to having Max as his little. He had been long without a little, and it was only after he knew about Max's designation that he understood why he hadn't felt the pull these last few years.
"Well, we'll see all about that," Christian said with a smile.
Waking up, Max felt slightly confused. His head was hurting, and he wasn't really sure if he was big or little for the moment, his brain half fuzzy and in between headspaces. Shifting his stiff legs a little, he realized that he was messy. God, he hated changing himself when he was messy, especially after he was asleep. That just meant it got everywhere.
"Where?" Max asked when he tried to sit up, surprised when he couldn't. Opening his eyes, he realized that he wasn't in a bed or a room. A moment later, he remembered being on a plane, and it was a seatbelt was holding him down. Still muddled from sleep, he opened it up so he could sit up, feeling the mess squish underneath him.
"Oh, you're awake," Brad said, coming over to Max. At his words, Max looked at him, blinking and yawning.
"Yeah I am," Max said, stretching, "I hadn't slept very well this night,"
"No, you didn't. You seem to be big?" Bradley asked, and Max nodded, trying to ignore the feeling of a messy diaper while talking with Brad. It wasn't the first time he had pretended not to sit in his own poop during a conversation, waiting for an opportunity to clean up.
"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry about the trouble," Max said, noticing that he was wearing Bradley's sweater and remembering his sticky messy shirt.
"It's nothing. You were very sweet," Bradley said with a smile, making Max flush for some reason, a weird feeling in his stomach.
"I was being stupid," Max said before he could stop himself, making Brad frown.
"Of course not," Bradley said, "You were being perfectly normal, and good,"
"Oh," Max said, not knowing how else to respond, "well, that's all okay then,"
"Yes, it is," Bradley affirmed. For a moment, they were silent, Max wondering if he could slip away to change his diaper. He never changed a messy diaper on a plane before, in only a limited space. Perhaps he should ask Bradley for help, just to be sure that he would manage.
The man seemed to be fine with changing his diapers, but he was getting paid for it, so perhaps he was just too polite to complain about it. But messy diapers were a bit worse than just wet, and it might just be an hard limit for the man.
"Uhm," Max said, making Bradley look at him. He could see Christian look up at as well, and suddenly he was filled with embarrassment that it wasn't just Brad who would know, "never mind,"
"You sure?" Bradley asked, and Max nodded, knowing that his cheeks were still quite red, and he was unable to look in the caregiver's face.
"If there is anything, don't be afraid to ask," Bradley said, "and if you want to slip down into headspace, that's good as well,"
"I'm fine now," Max answered, "been in headspace for a while already,"
"That's true. That was very good of you," Bradley said with a smile, and Max looked at him wide-eyed, feeling the flush travel to the back of his neck at the simple words.
He looked away, trying to fight the queasy feeling in his stomach, a warmth spreading and knowing that it wasn't real. Brad just said it so that he could get better and drive for the team. It all meant nothing. He didn't really think that Max was good, or a nice little. It was all just for the championship.
"Yeah, well, need to get better," Max murmured and then got up, making the bunny ear that had been resting on his lap drop to the floor. Half panicked, Maxie picked it up at the same time as Brad wanted to do, succeeding in bumping their heads together.
"Ow," they both said, Max getting up, and feeling slightly dizzy for a moment, bumping against Brad, who steadied him.
"You okay there?" Bradley asked Max.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Max answered.
"I think you might need a change as well," the trainer said, smelling the air, making Max blush.
"Right," Max said with fake casualness, mindful of Christian in the neighborhood, "I'll do that in a moment,"
"On your own?" Bradley asked, and Max hesitated for a moment. He really didn't feel like doing it on his own in a small space, possibly making other things messy in the process, "I can help you know. I don't mind,"
"You sure?" Max asked, "I mean, I'm big and all,"
"You are, but messy diapers are tricky to do on your own," Brad explained, seeing Max getting convinced at being helped.
"But, the cubicle is too small for two," Max said, almost as if he was more trying to convince himself then Bradley.
"We'll do it here on the floor," Bradley easily said.
"What?" Max asked, his eyes wide in surprise at the thought of being changed in public. But Brad had done his diaper before in the fitness room, which also was kind off public, even though they had only been there with the two of them at the time.
"I'll be going to the other side," Christian said suddenly a bit louder, feeling Max's resistance, "let me know when you guys are done,"
Max looked at Christian go, suddenly feeling nervous and shy, but feeling as if he couldn't back out now. Christian had even gotten up for this. Bradley got the bag with diapers out of the hand baggage room, taking out a towel for Max to lie on.
"It's smelly," Max said, hesitantly lying down.
"That's like expected," Bradley said, pulling the shorts off, making Max realise that he had forgotten to take them off before he laid down.
"And gross," Max said, wanting to be sure that Bradley knew what he was getting into it.
"Than we need to get you cleaned," was Brad's easy response.
It was weird to have his messy diaper changed for him, the feeling of someone slowly and gently wiping away the mess, and making sure he was clean everywhere. Brad was very gentle, mindful of the still visible bruises, and when the area was completely clean, a clean diaper was put underneath max and a layer of powder was added before he closed the diapers.
"Is this good?" he asked, and Max sat up, grateful to pull his shorts back on.
"Yeah, perfect," the little said, not able to look Brad in the face anymore, "so, how long until we arrive?"
"A couple more hours," Bradley answered, noticing the changing of subject and not commenting on it, glad already that he was able to get Max into a clean diaper.