the church of slim chances

been blooming alone (over you)

Charles x Max - rated E - ch. 9 of 14

Maybe Max already knows, sees through Charles right to the roots. “You don’t want to know? Who it is, I mean?”

“No,” Max snaps.

Charles flinches. He feels raw, exposed, like everyone can see the blooms unfurling in his chest.

And then Max is turning to him and sliding a possessive hand around the base of his skull. He waits until Charles meets his eyes.

“They don’t matter.” His long fingers curl in to press at the hinge of Charles’ jaw. “You will make them fall in love with you. Or.” Max swallows, throat bobbing reflexively. He leans in so close they’re breathing the same air. “Or you’ll get over them. Maybe…maybe fall for someone else. Anything can happen.”

“Anything,” Charles echoes, feeling insane. Max doesn’t know. Max is jealous of himself.

-

Ok, take all of this with a grain of salt bc I'm not sure exactly what the issue is this weekend and deployment is so complex overall. But unfortunately, I don't think there is a quick fix. We've had deployment issues all year, and from what I understand, they are pretty much built into Ferrari's energy management system--and thus can't be solved without an engine overhaul. Ferrari's system is certainly less efficient than Mercedes', especially with their stronger PU.

There are some documented problems with the software that automates the battery deployment. It could be misfiring or "learning" incorrectly when to deploy based on a mistake or variation in the previous lap (we've seen this with previous qualis especially). The problem could also be poor energy mapping or energy deployment strategy on team's part. I've seen theories that in FP2 they didn't deploy enough electrical energy in sector 2 and ended up superclipping through turns 11-13. If true, that could be improved for quali! But according to Lewis, they've been experimenting with deployment strategies and have already pretty much reached the optimal window.

i saw this reblog and the "of course kimi would be in the way" reminded me of "my way" by olivia rodrigo and then i just pictured charles getting very pissed, very jealous, and confronting kimi

Finally getting to my backlog of Kimi asks from Silverstone, and all I can say is Charles is done. He's done subtly threatening that greedy, shameless Italian kid. Done trying to explode him with his mind. Done waiting for George to do something about his upstart teammate. When Kimi blatantly asks Max out for pasta in front of the whole damn paddock? Oh hell no, only Charles gets to feed Max carbonara and lick the taste from his mouth. The fact that Kimi is even thinking about it is so disrespectful, Charles sees red. No more messing around. He's going to play Kimi's little game, and he is obviously going to win.

To start, he gets Max to his hotel room with a simple, truthful (though he might exaggerate the pleading eyes and wounded look a bit): "The last weeks have been so hard, and I've been working like crazy, and I just...I miss you, mon amour." And Kimi's invitation is forgotten. So is Max's diet when Charles crawls into his lap to personally feed him bits of guanciale, following every bite with a kiss, gripping Max's chin tongue sweeping in just the way he likes.

Then, he arranges to deflate the Mercedes driver's self-importance with a few "fans" who don't know the wdc points leader. Clearly, the kid's ego is out of control if he thinks he can just waltz in and steal Max from Charles.

The win isn't part of the plan. A bit of luck, a flawless race, months of hard work come to fruition and the last thing Charles is thinking about is Antonelli. But later, after the media and celebrations with his team, he gets a text from Max: driver room. And nothing else.

**Something a little spicy under the cut bc i got carried away 🌶️❤️‍🔥