for the love of god i need oscar to STAND UP 😭😭 it’s getting embarrassing buddy you are taking a photo in front of all ur fans and u still cant take ur eyes off lando….STAND UPPPP
*gently pokes you with a stick til you write this*
Is there a plot, or just vibes... like what is going on in this universe... okay... *rolls sleeves up* lemme try to headcanon it a little:
Oscar is a rising star in product engineering, and was hired based on a prototype he was developing in his Imperial College dorm room. Barely settled into his new office gig, he is told to present a demo of said product on the mainstage of his tech company employer's next big conference, where they announce their latest product rollouts for the year.
Oscar really hates public speaking, and has never been very good at it. Enter Lando - deputy head of marketing and charmboy extraordinnaire - who is assigned to get him up to scratch.
Other universe details that probably only I care about: Adam Norris is the new CFO who brings his son into the picture. There are definitely two overworked interns on both their teams who have to manage all their weird quirks and Lando's idiosyncratic JIRA board hygiene. Surely there must be an ugly conference t-shirt. No wait– Oscar sleeps with Lando at the conference rehearsal, but the first time is kinda unexpected, and also Oscar spilled red wine on himself the previous night which necessitated him going up to Lando's hotel room for Plot Convenient Reasons (sex). Morning after, Oscar has to borrow one of Lando's t shirts and it ends up being a neon prototype that was manufactured as an error. And Oscar's like "you cannot expect me to walk out like this", and it's like. "Well either that or you walk around the city shirtless sorry mate." (Oscar takes the L, but he really hates green highlighters from that point on and nobody really knows why. Lando thinks it's hilarious and buys him copious amounts of hot chocolate to make up for it even though it was never his fault. He just likes buying hot chocolate for Oscar.)
There is also definitely an icebreaking joint activity that they both do, like indoor rock climbing, in order to get to know each other. Except Lando is like, spectacularly good at it, and Oscar (a) lies about his competency in rock climbing (b) is deathly afraid of heights. But Oscar refuses to be a wimp so doesn't say a single thing until he reaches the top of a really challenging wall and Lando is like: woah you did so amazing! Now let go and come down! and Oscar is like: I can't! Lando: wdym?? Oscar: I hate heights. Like "my sisters used to lure me to the roof with a ladder and then take the ladder away", hate heights. Lando: BRO.....your PRIDE.... (but he's also secretly going insane because Oscar clearly just wanted an excuse to spend the morning with him.)
Their first kiss is after Lando belays Oscar safely to the ground, obviously. Adrenalin, and stuff.
this entire week was a LOT for Oscar and Lando clinging to each other through responsibilities but Sunday was like a masterclass in Oscar 'Let Me Take Care Of Lando' Piastri during what was sadly probably going to end up being one of Lando's darkest days
first Oscar fucking bodying the disappointment of his own race by chuckling ruefully about it in the interview next to a brooding (but at one point smiling!) Carlos. then Oscar looking at Lando's forlorn little face during the group photo...
and deciding from there on out to be Gregarious Outgoing Oscar - to pick up the remainders of their home race weekend on his very strong shoulders and see it all through on a high
like goddamn is his competence and maturity and sense of responsibility and desire to perform acts of service specifically for Lando are sexy as hELL !! starting with bearing the brunt of the post race recap so Lando doesn't have to - and watching Lando finally smile by continuing the tradition of saying "thanks Osc" is such a relief and Oscar would probably let Lando use any nickname he liked so long as it made him smile like that.
and then Lando - who'd been fighting a full on breakdown since the wrong choice of tyres right up to the group photo and working very hard to be happy for the team - sees Oscar putting in all of this effort and watching him and hovering and even doing that standing back a few paces so that Lando's home crowd can focus on Lando! and Lando knows he can do just as he likes and Oscar will allow anything! won't even do his completely fake and ultimately futile "scolding" no he's gonna give Lando whatever he wants just to make Lando smile and laugh. he's gonna 'keep him happy' :)
and Lando wants another shoey! he wants it to be Their Thing at Silverstone! and he wants Oscar's shoe and for Oscar to go first! and then Oscar gives in immediately and purrs "well since you put it like that" and Lando doesn't even fight the smile spreading across his face. then when it's his turn he wants to giggle and squirm and put his hands behind his back, ducking his head and going all cute like "but Oscah I'm too petite and fertile for a shoey" and he's loving Oscar going all pushy and pulling his pigtails, his absurd white sock treading in cold beer as he advances on Lando and not giving a damn bc Lando's dimples are out and he's being so cute and it's all for Oscar :)
and then suddenly Lando wants to project all of his frustrations into Oscar's shoe and hurtles it into the crowd and he can't quite believe he did that but!! Oscar is doubled over with laughter so Lando doubles over too and it's so wild and absurd and any other friend would steal one of Lando's shoes in retaliation and hurl it at the crowd - but not Oscar !! Oscar is exuding relief at seeing Lando this happy and Oscar never thinks of taking a second of that joy for himself and he is so happy to be the foil for Lando to act up and be wild and feel all of his feelings because it makes Lando feel !Safe! knowing that Oscar will never throw him a curve ball or do anything unexpected and whatever Lando says or does, Oscar will make it all okay by finding it hilarious or cute or he'll pretend to be exasperated and it's all the same thing really.
because Oscar doesn't care about the media! he appreciates the fans but he's not going to sacrifice any of himself for us and he certainly won't dance or perform! he doesn't care about his "image" so long as he's mostly left alone to focus on what's important to him. he doesn't give a damn about PR and he REALLY didn't care about creating a bromance or a PR package with Lando, not just bc it's not Oscar's thing but also bc Oscar had spent 8 years enjoying Lando as a driver and genuinely liking what he saw of him online. he saw a real future with McLaren - one he'd sacrificed so much to have - and he really saw a future with Lando. however their relationship was going to develop he wanted it to be solid and without any meddling for the sake of publicity. he doesn't hand over his time to just anyone and is perfectly alright being largely alone if need be! so the investments he's made with Lando are entirely a conscious choice - he wants to spend that time with him even when it's not for work or PR or social media.
Oscar both knows and cares that what is temporarily frustrating to him is utterly devastating to someone who feels things the way Lando feels things. that they're Different in so many ways but that in the same way Lando has watched Oscar closely to figure him out, Oscar has too. and Lando has gotten so incredibly comfortable with Oscar that he's let a very wide range of his emotions out around him! he's even shown his downright annoying and infuriating sides to Oscar and Oscar either smiles and allows it or smiles and pretends to be firm with him. sometimes Lando is especially annoying because it's quite fun seeing Oscar fighting down a smile and pretending to be firm with him :) they've basically turned that Sport Bible interviewer into their comedic marriage counselor.
and Lando didn't insist on the shoey for show - and as he had said after his very first one two years before, had no intention of ever doing another - but because this is their home race and now it can be Tradition! and because it was a bonding moment for them last year! and he doesn't throw Oscar's shoe bc it's a great "bit" or bc he's playing up to the crowd, it's because he's currently experiencing the most dizzying extremes of high and low all at once and we know very well that Lando has to channel a meltdown every now and then! he's genuinely surprised at himself for a moment when he so casually hurtles the poor shoe - almost unconsciously and he didn't even check to see who was watching or if Oscar saw it - and doesn't laugh until he sees Oscar laughing. and it felt SO good and cathartic to do and Oscar never complains !! Oscar wouldn't retaliate make Lando have a cold foot for the remainder of the fan stage! he even took off the other shoe and threw it himself for good measure!
and goddd do I love how you can see toward the end some kind of strategizing going on between Oscar and the members of the McLaren media team where Oscar wants Lando to throw the last hat for the cameras (I'm assuming). but Lando is euphorically performing the crowd and thrilled at how they respond to him waving his arms - even makes sure Oscar sees him do it to see Oscar beam at him! but the prompter down by the stage monitors has been flashing "WRAP IT UP" for a long time now so Oscar spares a moment to let Lando have his fun and revel in the moment before prompting him to throw the remaining hat.
and the thing is that Oscar has been saying how much Silverstone came to mean to him after last year - when the crowd chanted his name and Lando said how Oscar should've been on the podium with him and Lando almost floated off the stage with joy when Oscar said he watched when Lando was leading! - when they were still figuring each other out and Oscar was still very quiet and mostly wanting to just get through public appearances unscathed - and yet !! in the face of Lando's joy at a home podium, Oscar had plucked up the courage to push an arm around Lando's waist and squeezed him close. a move so unexpected and momentous that Lando literally looked a little dazed by it before slinging his arm around Oscar's shoulders and somehow smiling harder than he already was.
so isn't it a nice little bookend that this year, when Lando is now utterly devastated by third place and not remotely in the mood for crowds and jubilation - he is the very flip opposite of his hopeful, ecstatic colorful self of the previous three days buildup - but!! that Oscar has grown to know him so well that he'll gladly shift gears and be more animated and outgoing, all in the same way that even the general public recognize how Oscar provides Lando words he can't think of or facts he can't remember or helps him sound out words he doesn't know - and in this instance, Oscar can see where Lando's ability to turn himself "on" for the public drops off and needs Oscar to help out.
and Oscar knows probably better than most apart from the closest members of Lando's team how Lando needs time to get over a severe disappointment. he needs to stew and spiral and recover. he'll do his best in the meantime but it's a labor. so every time Lando droops again in the hours following the race, Oscar doesn't once get tired of watching him and boosting him back up. Lando leaves the stage and you can immediately see the dejection and weariness again because it's time to get in the car with Oliver and leave. (poor Max F today posting a very telling video of golfing with Lando in the rain and Max's face saying everything about Lando's continued state of mind)
so Oscar posts Those Moments of fan stage joy - just the two of them - on every social media platform he has and lets the images of himself and Lando in the setting sun take up the top row of his instagram. and Lando replies to one of his own very few posts of the Sunday with a video of the shoey calling him "Osc" - bc it's one of Their Things. it makes them smile and if the public likes it that's fine but it only happened at first by accident and without any audience so it's still just Their Thing. just like how the shoey Lando found so yucky in 2022 is now Their Thing to do at Silverstone. just like it's Their Thing to know when the other needs the support and for the other to step up. and how the public call them "twins" but really, it's that when you watch someone close enough and you Care, you just naturally slip into patterns and you know what they're about to say!
race day at Silverstone 2024 was absolutely nothing of what Lando had hoped, and all coming after the giddiness of both media days and FP and quali with Oscar right there beside him both on the track and off it. he didn't even hold his trophy like usual in the post race because only the big gold one meant anything anymore. but he had "Osc" and Their Shoey and Oscar who takes a shower and rinses away all his frustrations and shows up for Lando in the same kit as Lando's team and smiling for Lando no matter what. it's no wonder those are the only moments Lando wants to remember <3
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this should be all the video sources I used in the compilation but pls let me know if I missed one and I'll add it <3
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
