hello! I would like a 36 and/or 49 for the prompt game if you feel like it!
hii esi!!! i did a little bit of both, hope you'll like it!!! (promts from here)
36. huddle for warmth + 49. self-sacrificial
"We're gonna die here" Daniel says, clinging to Max in the stuffy darkness of their blanket.
"I think you're right, Daniel. There's no way out of here" Max replies. His lips quiver from trying not to smile.
Spending winter break in Switzerland is something new for them, but they were planning it for a while — Daniel wanted to try doing dirt bike tricks on a snowmobile, and Max wanted to watch.
So as soon as the season ended, and Max's tuxedo went back to being crammed in the farthest corner of the closet, they took their jet here — to a small and fairly-secluded chalet in the woods.
Only to discover that they either didn't turn on the heater, or the heater was broken, because the next morning they woke up to an absolutely freezing room.
After Daniel woke Max up with his ice-cold toes pressed to Max's shins, he claimed that it's do cold he can see his breath coming out in puffs. Then he'd dragged Max under the duvet before he could check if it's true.
Their clothes is strewn around the floor, and Max is sure he can endure the cold while he goes to figure out the heating.
But it is so much nicer to be under the blanket with Daniel. He's sneaked out a phone from the bedside table, and now their duvet cocoon is illuminated by the screen — it's playing a video of a campfire, because Daniel claims it will help them warm up faster. Max doesn't feel particularly cold, though, with Daniel's hot breath on his cheeks and Daniel's warms hands on his waist.
The campfire video is illuminating the space under the blanket with nice orange light, and the flicker of the digital fire dances in the dark of Daniel's eyes. He looks lovely, soft, and Max wouldn't mind spending the rest of their break- or their lives here with him.
But they packed their vacation full of exciting things —snowmobiles, sauna, nice dinner, a little black velvet box on the bottom of Max's suitcase — so, unfortunately, they can't spend here forever.
Daniel looks like he's falling back asleep, so Max bites him gently on the nose — it's still, inexplicably, ice-cold.
"I think I will go out there," Max tells him. "If the heater is actually broken, I will bring your sixty layers of thermals so you can put them on."
Daniel smiles his lovely Daniel-smile. "My hero," he yawns. "I will never forget your sacrifice."
"Don't fall asleep while I'm gone," Max says and inches his foot from out the blanket. It's still freezing cold.
"I will try," Daniel whispers, his eyes already closed.
Pillow! Hope you like this Esi <3 Inspired by a tiktok someone put in GBB earlier today: the alternate universe pairing:
"Tell me about your world?" Daniel asks, playing with Max's fingers, scared to look into his eyes, "would you- tell me about how I won?"
Max lifts Daniel's chin, blue eyes meeting brown, "yes schat, why don't you lie down and I'll tell you,"
Daniel shifts, laying his head on the pillow and relaxing as Max blankets his body with his own. Inhaling sharply, he asks, "just- before you do- we... we're still together, in your timeline?"
"Eventually we of course realised we were in love," Max nods, Daniel feeling the polite little curve of his ear rub against his bare chest, "we are together, Daniel."
"I love you," he offers, "okay. I'm ready for my story,"
Max takes a deep breath, holding tightly to Daniel's hand, "in 2020 we had a good car. A really good car. And I was fighting you and fighting Lewis, but then, Lewis and I kept getting caught out. Turn one incidents, or stupid crashes. I just- I wanted it so bad, the championship. And of course Lewis is a good driver but he wants always to win, just like all of us. So. We kept crashing, and you kept winning, or putting it on the podium. We had a stupid crash, you and I, in Baku?"
"In 2020?" Daniel asks, intrigued, "that happened here but in 2018,"
"Ah! See, things happen the same but different also," Max presses a kiss to the curve of his ribs and then continues, "so. That is how it happened. You were very consistent apart from that once, and Lewis and I- weren't. You were a little sneaky with it,"
"Sneaky?"
"Well Christian and GP of course said it might happen, but maybe it's that I didn't believe it. Not because you aren't a great driver, Daniel, you of course are a Championship-winning driver. Just-"
"You're better," Daniel muses, running his fingers through the short blond hair.
Max hums, "of course to win it you have to believe you are the best, Daniel. I believe I am the best, just like you,"
A self-deprecating laugh escapes him, "nah, mate. Not anymore. I came, I drove, I faded,"
"To me you will not fade, Daniel. To me you are sunlight, and to your Max I think also," Max tells him earnestly, "and I love you,"
"I love you too, Maxy," he sighs heavily, then runs through the same five stages of grief for his what-could've-been that he has for the last year.
"You retired right after," Max continues telling the story, "like- wait, did Nico still retire right after his?"
"Yeah, in '16,"
"Yeah! You retired and then started managing drivers, and then somehow got involved with F3. You're the TP right now of an F2 team. You love it, Daniel, and you're so good at it,"
"I am?"
Max kisses his knuckles, "yes, schat, so good. And we- we're expecting our babies, in the summer. Bink is carrying for us, this time. Two little sisters for Mats to play with,"
"We-" Daniel's voice breaks as tears run from his eyes and drip to the pillow beneath his head, "we have a family?"
"Yes, Daniel," Max shifts to hold him, tucking his face to Max's thick neck, "we have a family. Michelle and Victoria have been very generous, helping us with little Verstappen-Ricciardo babies."
"I bet they're all fat and cute," Daniel shudders, imagining how lovely their little babies would be, "we don't- we haven't, yet,"
"Maybe in the morning when you have your Max back, you could talk about it," Max strokes a hand down the line of Daniel's back, "family is the most important thing, Daniel. And our babies are so cute and fat, and you're an amazing daddy,"
He sobs, clutching Max tightly, mourning the career he never got to experience and the babies he'll likely never get to meet. It hurts, to know that this universe's Daniel doesn't get to live his dream but the Daniel in another does. But then he thinks on what Max told him.
About how family is the most important, and how they have lovely cute little babies, and- they could do that here. He can still be an amazing daddy. He can still watch Max be an amazing papa. He still gets Max.
hiii friend <3 some maxiel🌟for the ficlet ask game maybe? thank you love you!
From here! hiiii esi 💕thank you for the ask, love you too!!
🌟 collaring / begging (only a teeny tiny bit of begging but yea)
Max walks out of the shower, suppressing a little shiver of anticipation. Daniel had told him to get ready but he hadn’t said what for, so Max just went with their standard ‘get ready protocol’, as Daniel likes to call it.
The blonde kneels on the bed, eyes closed, back straight, shoulders set and arms behind him — just like Daniel once showed him, and lets his mind drift while he waits for his boyfriend to come back.
“Hi there, baby,” Max opens his eyes, looking up to see Daniel towering above him, grinning. The brunette cups his cheek and coos softly. “Are you looking all pretty for me, sweetheart?”
Max just nods, flushing. He’s not supposed to speak unless Da Daniel asks for it, and he’s determined to be good today.
“Good boy, baby. Now close your eyes for me, kay? I have a surprise for you.”
His eyes go wide and he scrambles to obey almost immediately, hands clenching in the soft duvet to ground himself. Nothing happens for a moment, and Max is almost sure Daniel is going to hit him with the biggest ‘just kidding’ ever, until he feels a soft, barely there touch guiding his head down. He lets himself get moved, gasping quietly when something wraps around his throat. It’s not too tight and not too loose either, just a sure, grounding pressure around his neck, and he feels himself tear up when he thinks about just what it might be.
He hears something get moved in the room, and, a moment later, Daniel speaks up, ruffling his hair.
“You can look now, love. Do… do you like it…?”
Max is surprised to hear the hint of hesitation in the brunette’s voice, but when he looks at himself in the – now conveniently placed in front the bed – mirror, he understands.
There, delicately wrapped around his throat, sits a gorgeous leather collar, with a heart shaped buckle in the middle. The design of it is simple, but that’s what makes it look absolutely beautiful for Max. Daniel knows he doesn’t like tacky, unsubtle things, especially jewelry, and he made sure to choose a simple looking collar for him. Max almost reaches out to touch it before remembering his rules. He looks up and finds Daniel is already watching him, eyes soft and full of love.
“You can touch it, Maxy. And you may speak.”
Max’s hand is already at his neck, reverently over the metal of the buckle and the warm leather hugging his throat. Tears pearl at the corner of his eyes, and he blinks, letting them fall.
“I… I love it…,” His voice is hoarse. He smiles when Daniel cups his cheek again, wiping his tears away. “Daddy, I love it so much… Thank you…”
Daniel grins, wide and happy, and leans in to kiss him. He guides Max to lie down, draping himself over him and mapping his body with rough, calloused hands, making Max moan and arch his back, breaking off the kiss.
“Please, daddy, please —”
Daniel shushes him with another kiss.
Ehh, Max has all night to make his begging work anyways.
hello! would love to see what you do with barefoot and/or buttons for the prompt game <3
hiii esi!!! i had fun with this one, so i hope you like it!! (prompt from here)
23. buttons
"I'm back!"
The front door closes after Daniel with a click, finally giving him a reprieve from the heat of Australian summer; the evening song of kookaburras is muffled now, barely audible from the craked windows.
Daniel goes to the kitchen to deposit the bag of groceries he got, following the sounds of chatter and the smell of his Mum's tomato sause.
"Uncle Daniel!" scream Izzy ans Isaac as soon as he steps into the kitchen. Daniel doesn't have time to open his mouth, the kids already attacking him with questions and trying to get inside the grocery bag. He holds it up above their heads, and the kids try to climb his legs like little koalas.
"Did you bring ice cream? Is it chocolate like I asked?" asks Izzy, as Isaac says, "Did you remember to buy garlic for Grandma?"
By the stove, Daniel's Mum chuckles, "Alright, kids. Let Uncle Daniel go, you little monkeys." She stirs the pot of boiling pasta, then puts the wooden spoon down to take the bag from Daniel's hand.
The kids untangle from Daniel's legs and he pats them both on the heads.
"Yes, yes and," he answers their questions, messing up their hair, "Yes. I bought everything from the list."
The kids scream, 'Yay!" and follow his Mum to the kitchen isle. She takes out a pack of garlic and two tubs of ice cream Daniel bought — one chocolate for the kids, and one vanilla for the rest of them.
"Where is Max, by the way? Did you lose him?"
They all were playing shop in the backyard when Daniel's Mum asked him to go get some garlic for her pasta. Daniel asked Max if he wanted to go with him, but he refused, content to stay and play with Izzy and Isaac.
It was their first time spending Christmas in Perth together, and despite having a whole month in Australia ahead of them, both Daniel and Max tried to use every opportunity to spend as much time with the family as possible.
"He's in the backyard," Isaac replies, trying to puppy eye Daniel's Mum into letting them eat ice cream before dinner. Grace, as weak to kids' pleading tactics as the rest of them — especially Max, — doesn't budge, promising that they only have to wait for twenty minutes.
Daniel shakes his head fondly and goes to the back door to find Max. But before he can go outside, Izzy calls him out.
"Uncle Daniel, wait! I have something for you!" she says, running after him on her little legs.
"What is it- Oof." Izzy barrels into him and grabs his hand.
When Daniel opens his palm, she gives him a small round button — play-pretend currency of choice in the Ricciardo household. They have been using them before while playing shop outside, but Daniel's not sure why he would need it now, since both the kids aren't playing anymore.
He chooses to let it go, no reason to question his niece's logic. "Thank you, Izzy," he says to her, putting the button in the pocket of his shorts.
She smiles at him and runs back to the kitchen, yelling, "Grandmaaa, I'm hungryy!"
With a chuckle, Daniel opens the door to the backyard and goes outside. The early summer heat covers him like a comfort blanket, the low evening sun bathing the small garden in warm golden light.
In the far corner of the yard, shadowed by the sprawling branches of a rusty fig, sits a wooden shop stand — Daniel's Dad had made it ages ago, when Daniel was barely five. It's old now, faded paint chipped at the corners, held together by rusty nails and childhood memories.
Max sits on the little bench behind the stand, only his upper body is visible, both elbows on the table while he scrolls on his phone.
Daniel must've made a noise, because Max looks up, and his face, already pink from the hot summer sun, lights up with Daniel's favorite smile.
"Daniel!" Danuyl. "You're back!"
Smiling, Daniel comes closer to the stand and notices that instead of a little banner that usually says "Shop", someone — presumably Max — put up a piece of paper with the words "Kissing booth" written on it.
"Aw, what is this? What happened to the shop?" Daniel grins, tapping the new sign.
"Daniel, I had to change it. Selling rocks and leaves is not sustainable anymore," Max replies, head shaking in mock exasperation.
Daniel laughs and squats down in front of the booth. "God, the economy is shambes, yeah?"
Max nods, then looks expectantly at him. Daniel's cheeks hurt from smiling,
"Well, I would like one kiss, then."
"You of course need to pay," Max replies, looking at Daniel through his lashes.
Daniel pauses, "But I don't have anyth- Oh shit!" he remembers the button Izzy gave him and reaches into his pocket.
"Will this be enough?" Daniel asks, giving the button to Max.
Max hums, turning the button appraisingly in his long fingers, then holding it up to the light. Satisfied, he says, "Yes, this will be enough for one kiss."
Daniel laughs again, then leans in. Max's lips are soft and plush under his own, and as Daniel cups his cheek, Max hums, lips parting to deepen the kiss.
Once they part, Daniel smiles and says, "That was good. This is probably the best kissing booth in Perth."
Max laughs, smiling too, "Only in Perth? Not even in Australia?"
"Well, it's hard to tell with only one kiss," Daniel flirts back.
Max nods, agreeing. "You're right. Maybe we should again." He slides his fingers through the short hair above his ear.
"But I only had one button," frowns Daniel, searching his pockets for more. He finds some loose change from the grocery store, but that's not the game they're playing right now.
"Hm," Max hums, looks Daniel up and down. Daniel feels himself blush.
"It is of course very sad that you don't have any buttons. But maybe…" Max says, reaching under the counter.
With a rattle, he pulls out a cookie tin, full to the brim with buttons: colorful, small and big, round, oval and square. The evening sun reflect from the plastic, making the buttons shine like real coins.
"Maybe we can use these?" Max asks, his own blush covering his cheeks.
"Let's find out," Daniel purrs and leans for another kiss.
(i've scrolled and picked three at random...excited to see what you can do with these djfnsdjb)
send me 3 emojis and I'll write you something
esi!!! listen.... I dont know what any of this is okay. im not responsible for the associations my brain comes up with when I see the emojis you send. - max/rico
rico stumbles through the narrow streets of amsterdam, feeling happy and drunk. his earlier fight was good, very good - he'd managed to knock out the other guy and not get beaten up super badly. the perfect fight, basically.
their team celebrated in a nice bar, and rico felt that the evening was nice enough to walk to his hotel instead of getting a taxi. he doesn't know the streets well enough though, so he had to put the address into his phone, which then offered him a route that was more zig-zags than lines.
that's why rico finds himself in a narrow alley, old stone buildings on either side. he walks down it, hoping no one is hiding in a dark corner, although he's confident enough he will able to fight them off in case.
he's almost made it out of the alley when something catches his eye. it's a sign that says "agatha's fortune-telling" glowing in neon-purple and bathing the corner of the alley in mysterious energy. there's a door under the sign, with a page of paper taped to the wall that says they're open all night, every night.
rico was never a superstitious, he doesn't believe in ghosts or is even religious, but something about the store intrigues him. it might be the alcohol in his blood, but he waves it away and goes inside. what's the worst that can happen?
he walks through a dimly lit corridor, covered with posters and newspaper clippings about ghosts, tarot cards and constellations. there's music playing in the background, but it doesnt really match the vibe, if rico is being honest. it's sound more like club music than a mysterious fortune-teller music. but what does he know.
there's a beaded curtain at the end of the hallway, and rico can see a room peeking through it - where agatha sits, he guesses.
when he opens the curtain and walks inside, though, the person sitting behind the round table is not agatha.
it's a boy, lanky and sprawled sideways in the chair. he isn't dressed like a fortune-teller either - just a pair of blue jeans, a black hoodie and a cap on his head. there is a sticky note with a drawing of an eye on the top of the cap.
the boy is watching something on his phone when he notices rico, cursing and almost falling out of the chair.
"what the fuck are you doing here!" he yelps, jabbing a finger in rico's direction.
rico raises his hands, placating. "I'm here for agatha? to tell me my fortune?" he feels stupid now. why is he even here.
the boy raises a brow at him, blue eyes watching rico intently. "really? are you high?"
rico huffs a laugh. fair question. "no," he says, "not high. just a bit drunk."
the boy hums, nodding. "okay. if you want, I can read tell your fortune. not for free, of course."
"are you old enough to handle money?"
the boy bristles. "fuck off, I'm nineteen," he says, "if you don't want to, you can just leave."
"fine, fine, sorry," rico takes a seat in the chair opposite him. "please, I'd like to know my future."
rico has no idea whyhe's still here, but something about the boy makes him want to stay. maybe, he's a real fortune-teller.
the boy leans down then hauls a crystal ball onto the table. it doesn't glow, it's not even some kind of toy - just a glass sphere on a wooden stand. it's very dusty.
silently, rico watches the boy close his eyes wave his hands around it, humming what sounds like a martjin garrix song. he scrunches his face, as if in pain, then says,
"I see..I see..in your future, you will-" the boy pauses, squinting one of his eyes open, "what was your name again?"
"rico."
the boy nods, closing his eyes again. "I see your life, rico... you are... a construction worker."
nope, not even close.
the boy continues. "and you have... a girlfriend."
missed again.
"and in your future you will..." the boy pauses dramatically. "get turned into a worm."
"what?" rico yelps. "a worm?"
the boy nods, lips downturned and slightly twitching. "yes, a terrible fate, of course. you find a strange crystal at one of the construction sites you work on and when you pick it up- poof" -the boy waves his hand- "a worm. they don't know how that happened and can't reverse the spell. so you'll live as a worm forever," he finishes, shrugging.
rico is stunned, but then the boy's lips twitch again, and rico realizes he's trying to stop himself from laughing.
shaking his head, rico smiles, "you are a shit fortune-teller."
the boy bursts into laughter, "did I get anything right?"
"no, not at all," rico is laying him now. a worm. if he was more drunk he might've believed it.
"so I guess I have to pay you anyway?" rico asks after they stopped laughing. "how much for my worm fortune?"
the boy looks at him like he's grown a second head. "wait, actually? you don't have to pay me, mate. I was just joking, it's always very boring here, you being here is already enough."
"boring? I thought more people would like their future to be read?"
the boy shakes his head, "no, mate. don't even remember the last time some came down here that wasn't high or looking for a bathroom. you don't have to pay, really."
it does sound boring. "why are you here, then?" rico asks.
the boy shrugs, looking away. "I need money, and this job is easy and pays enough. also there's wi-fi so I can study. i get busy during the day, with the classes and my father, so this is the only place I can study."
rico glanses at his watch. its 3 am, and this boy is working in an empty store instead of being home and sleeping.
"so," he really should go back to his hotel. he has a flight at 10 am tomorrow. "if youdon't want my money, how about food? I saw a mcdonald's on my way here, maybe i can get you something from there?"
the boy eyes him suspiciously again, then stands up, shrugging. "fine, let's go, it's my lunch break soon anyway."
rico follows him out to the hallway. the boy turns, "oh, I'm max, by the way."
hi tysh <3 i'd like a 24. showing up injured at their friend/mentor’s house for the fic game maybe?
hi esi!
so.. I kind of messed up. I meant to save the ask game post to my drafts for when I'm feeling like playing, but I posted it instead. oops!
But! I did write a little thing for you! it was actually kind of nice since I didn't write anything fic related this week.
I put a little spin on the prompt and made it bones au because I miss them. so, here. 500 words of bones au maxiel!
Max hears a muffled “Come in” from inside Daniel's apartment after knocking on the door. He slowly turns the doorknob and steps through. Max hasn't been here a lot, but Daniel's flat is easy to navigate – a short corridor that leads to the living room and the kitchen.
On the big but worn out couch lies Daniel, still in his light blue work shirt and gray pants. His face is covered in abrasions and little cuts, and he's holding his left arm weirdly, laying it over his stomach, hiding it from Max’s view.
“Bones!” Daniel exclaims, trying to get up from the couch, but wincing and gingerly laying back down. “To what do I owe this pleasure?"
“Just came to check on you,” Max answers, sitting on the arm of the couch, closer to Daniel's legs.
A few hours ago Daniel went to the victim's place – a small house somewhere in a suburban area. Max wanted to go with him, but he still had work to do in the lab. He tried to convince Daniel to wait for him, Max needed half an hour at most to finish his notes, but Daniel was impatient, said it would be just a quick check, since the victim lived alone anyway, and left without Max.
Two hours later, Max received a call from him, and had to listen to Daniel explain how when he entered the victim’s house, a man barreled into him, frantic and suspicious, trying to run away. And how Daniel heroically chased the man through the small backyards and spiky bushes, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car and tumbling to the rough asphalt. The guy ran into a dead end and surrounded, letting Daniel arrest him.
Apparently they had quite a scuffle, judging by Daniel's beaten up form on the couch.
Daniel is yet to tell Max who the guy is or why he was running, but it can wait.
“Nothing I can't sleep off,” Daniel grins, waving his good hand, the other still hidden. Max needs to check on that later. “They gave me the rest of the day off, might as well use that."
Max hums. “Are the wounds that bad? What did the doctor say?” he asks, standing up and moving closer to Daniel to inspect his face.
“Uh. Nothing,” Daniel falters, following Max’s movements. “I went straight home,” he adds, looking away.
Max furrows his eyebrows, looking at the scrapes on Daniel's cheekbone. “What? Why?”
“It's just a few scratches, I'm fine,” Daniel replies, still looking somewhere behind Max.
Max asks where Daniel's first aid kit is, thinking, What an idiot.
Max could've probably stayed in the lab, there is no serious reason for him to be here, rooting through Daniel's bathroom cabinets, looking for something that might not be there. But learning that Daniel was injured – even if it's just a couple of scrapes and a bruised hand – still made Max worry. He could've been there, could've helped Daniel catch the guy, or at least make sure Daniel's wounds would be looked after.
But he wasn't there. So now he has to gently angle Daniel's face and dab a cotton pad with iodine on the small scrapes.
Daniel hisses from the sting and after lifting the pad, Max softly blows on the wounds, hoping it will help with the pain.
