Since Marc is a cat shifter in my au, and hes been on the grid for so long, hes been sort of recognized as The Grid Cat™
And since hes been around longer, some of the drivers/engineers around the paddock have come to the realization that he is a pretty damn smart cat. Nothing really comes of it other than people being freaked the fuck out when he stares at them and appearing out of the blue.
But one day, as marc is doing his regular laps around the paddock and motorhome area hes stopped by Valentino. Now, because Vale had been on the grid for so long he is pretty familiar with cat marc, but isnt aware it IS marc. And hes been missing cat marc since hes retired, especially because for some reason the cat has been ignoring him or hiding from him for a couple years before his retirement.
So Marc is just picked up by Vale and basically drags him into Peccos motorhome, where most of the academy boys appear to be. They are all sat and squished onto the couch with something on the floor in front of him. Walking in, Vale puts the cat into the middle of the room where he just stands there confused. in front of the cat is a foam pad of sorts with an array of buttons.
Vale points at the various buttons and talks to the cat, "these are so you can talk because you are a weirdly smart cat, and i saw a dog do it so you probably can too."
One by one hea goes pressing the buttons, food, eat, water, ouch, me, you, sleep, outside, a few names that are followed by fuck, bitch, and asshole. All of the buttons are voiced by Vale, Bez, and Pecco.
Amusedly Bez says "i thought that the cursing would be good since you are a cat. And cats seem like they want to curse a lot."
The cat walks over to a button and taps it, and it dosent make a noise so he taps it again but harder.
You
Everyone lights up, and encourages the activity, "Yes! Do it again!"
The cat, seemingly amused presses You again.
Everyone cheers again before quieting down quickly.
"say a sentence kitty!"
The cat stands there for a minute, staring the people before walking over to another set of buttons
Vale, You
Smiling wide, Vale says "Yes?" Excitedly.
Theres another pause as the cat stares up at Vale before quickly moving through the buttons, pressing them in an energetic order.
Vale, Fuck, You, Asshole, Hahaha.
Vale is no longer smiling. His face has dropped and he looks shocked, confused as to what he has done to wrong the cat.
The cat keeps going, pressing buttons left and right.
Me, cat, bitch, Hahaha. Bez, Thanks, For, Fuck.
The cat meows loudly, pressing the Outside button repeatedly then walks over to the door.
In a haze Vale walks over and lets the cat out, and shut the door where he lays against it, aghast.
This is How i imagine the relationship between Bez and Marc are post Marquee Moon.
Since Bez is such a physical person that just gets amplified when hes shifted, so he just wants to latch on to the closest being. But since Alex had just went out for food, Marc is the next best thing. And Bez just latches onto Marc (who is also shifted) like a koala.
Now marc is pretty known by all to be anti-touch for everyone other than a few people. And those few people dont include Bez, despite the fact that Alex is in a relationship with him.
So Bez latching onto Marc results in a weird sorta stand off where Marc is very clearly annoyed. Tail is whipping around, ears in airplane mode, growling softly, the whole shaband. But Bez dosent realize that these are all the signs that Marc is uncomfortable since hes used to big cats that growl and hiss as their way of showing affection.
Bez keeps holding on until Marcs like "Ive had enough of this" and turns around and swats at Bez a couple times, teeth bared, and squirms away from Bez.
And Bez is just like "aw man 🙁 my cuddle buddy 🙁🙁🙁" and just flops down and goes pancake mode, waiting for Alex to get back.
Pecco rat being taken on the most insane side quests with the vr46 academy because they think its funny as hell. Cause how often do you see a rat surfing? Or a rat drinking wine at the bar? Or a rat dressed up on someones shoulders in public? Almost never. And everyone loves to see animals in unconventional places, especially if they have clothes on.
this is my first fic ive posted, so please give me feedback! Its also on ao3 if you want to read it there!
title is referencing Marquee Moon by Television
Bez, on all accounts, had a decent race. What he considered a “decent” race had previously been a “Bad” race, capital B. He has been struggling with the change from a top-five and highly competitive bike to a mid-field bike that has more issues than solutions. He tries to tell them what's wrong, what he's feeling. He stays longer in the meetings after races to learn the data, where he went wrong, why he isn't fast enough, and it's been piling on him.
He's been so unbelievably stressed out from trying to make the bike better he has hardly been aware of anything else. He still goes to the ranch in his free time, and he still hangs out with Pecco or Luca or Franky or whoever after a particularly bad race, but he just can't get his mind off the bike.
Maybe that's why he's so nervous to see if Pecco is willing to cheer him up. The race was incredibly boring and he only gained one position the whole race, finishing in an unimpressive tenth. Still, regardless of his nerves that feel like they're going to buzz right out of his skin, he knocks on the door of Peccos motorhome.
Bez waits for a minute. Maybe Pecco didn't hear? Bez’s heart thuds in his ears and he knocks again, harder and faster than he did at first. Still no answer. Bez can now feel sweat dripping down his neck, he feels like ice has been dumped into his veins and a fire was lit at his feet to counteract it.
He thinks for a second, maybe he's not here. Maybe he's out. Yeah. He's probably not back yet. So Bez stiffly spins himself around climbs down the stairs as fast as possible and walks swiftly to the side of the motorhome to get by, but he pauses just in the middle and looks up at the window to see if the lights are on inside.
Huh, they are.
Bez feels like he's going to pass out or vibrate out of his skin. Maybe he will do both. He sits down under the window for a second so that he can catch his breath when he starts to feel it. The tingly sensation that appears every time he needs to shift. Fuck. he doesn't want to shift outside, but Pecco isn't opening his door.
His breath quickens, panicked. The tingling spread from where it started in his chest and rapidly moved out towards his arms and to his fingers, as well as down his legs into his toes. His limbs feel incredibly heavy and his head is now feeling tingly and full of cotton when the switch happens.
In the blink of an eye, the once-human Bez now sits, panting. His now considerably smaller form sits in the middle of the walkway, a small and lean raccoon with a piercing in its ear.
Bez, now a raccoon sighs, grabs what he can of his wallet and phone, and drags them towards the stairs of Peccos motorhome. Even if Pecco doesn't want to see him he will at least house his raccoon form for a while until Bez is feeling good enough to shift back.
Dropping his things on the doorstep Bez stands up on his hind legs and reaches for the door handle, pulling down with all his might, and pushing the door open. To Bez’s surprise, the door opens with ease. Maybe Pecco oiled the hinges. Letting go of the door Bez leans down grabs his things and drags them in the door before dropping them again so that he can push the door shut. Or just closed enough that it looks shut.
Bez decides that he can leave the phone and wallet on the floor for now, and he can pick them up later when he needs to shift back. Walking into the living area he looks around and finds that it's both cleaner and dirtier than what Peccos motorhome looks like normally.
There is a bowl of something on the counter, from what Bez can tell, it smells like a bowl of cereal, but since its smell isn't too strong he assumes it's been eaten and left behind. Confused he keeps walking to the couch, where there's a pile of blankets and hoodies and something else he can't figure out.
Sniffing the air a bit doesn't help. It's a smell that he can't discern. A new smell. Which is odd considering he, as a raccoon, has smelt most things there are to smell. Climbing up the couch and onto the table, which he knows he's not supposed to do but does it anyways to annoy Pecco.
looking down at whatever is in this pile of comfort and is shocked when he sees a pair of wide green eyes staring up at him in the shape of a cat. This causes a very loud and scary chain of events.
The cat jumps up onto the floor and starts hissing, tail and fur standing on point. Bez, still on the table, hisses back. And just like how Bez shifted, in the blink of an eye The cat that was once on the floor now stands at a wide eyes and angry Alex Marquez. Bez pauses his hissing briefly as Alex scruffs him and tosses him to the floor, where he accidentally shifts back into human form.
Alex stutters, mouth gaping and moving like a drowning fish, and Bez makes a scramble for it. Trying to stand up as fast as he can and bolt for the door without being caught by Alex, in which he only partially succeeds to his distress.
In his fear, Bez had tripped over his own feet and hit the ground hard, laying halfway in the entranceway and halfway in the living space of the home. His prone and groaning form seemed to snap Alex into action. He took two quick steps over to the side of Bez and asked “Are you ok?” in a deadpan tone.
With Bez’s face still facing down, he nods and breathes in a shuddering breath. He cannot break down now in front of his sorta kinda enemy. There is silence for a second as Bez tries to steady his breathing when Alex asks the question Bez dreaded the most.
“Why are you in Marc's motorhome?”
Fuck. That's right. Marc is teammates with Pecco, of course. his motorhome would be right next to Marcs. Bez wants to bash his head into the ground and curl up in a ball to never be seen again. With a muffled and wavering voice, he responds “I was, eh, looking for Pecco?”
“Hm.”
This is where Bez dies, at the hands of Alex Marquez. he can hear a little voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Vale saying “I told you those Marquezes are evil.”
He feels like he's counting the seconds until Alex cracks down an axe or starts torturing him for information. Maybe this is the payback to Vale for whatever happened between Marc and him, Bez doesn't know what happened but from what Vale had told him and the energy in the room when Marc is mentioned something bad must have gone down between the two.
He hears Alex move, maybe to grab a knife, but he feels a hand tap his shoulder a few times before Alex speaks up, “Can you sit up?”
Bez holds his breath for a second before taking a breath, gathering all his courage, and pushing himself upright so that he's sitting on the floor with Alex squatting in front of him. He tries to keep up his composure, controlled breaths, tapping a random rhythm on his knee, clenching and unclenching his jaw, anything to keep up this facade.
Alex studies him during this time, looking Bez in the eyes, occasionally flickering to his hands, observing Bez like a hunter preparing a strike on its prey. Alex blinks and some complicated emotions flick over his face far too fast for Bez to recognize.
Alex's mouth purses, like he is choosing his words carefully, “Are you…” he kisses his teeth, looks away briefly then looks Bez in the eyes again, “Are you ok?”
That was the last question Bez was expecting. maybe “Are you a shapeshifter” or “Are you lying” or anything other than “Are you ok.” He stares blankly at Alex for a second, eyes wide and burning while his lip wobbles dangerously trying to keep his emotions inside. though, Bez has never been the best at holding in his emotions.
It is then that Bez snaps, large hot tears finally break loose after he blinks and a choked-out noise is ripped out of his throat. He brings his hands up to his face either to wipe away the tears that are falling or to hide the ugly face he must be pulling.
After fruitlessly trying to wipe away the tears he can see the blurry form of Alex move, maybe to leave him sobbing on the floor or to grab a tissue, but instead, he shifts forward and softly lays his hands on Bez’s shoulder. Slowly and hardly with any power he pulls Bez's shoulders forward towards his body.
Then the hands shift. the right hand slowly moves its way to the base of Bez's neck while the other slides down to the spine, right between Bez's shoulder blades, and squeezes. Squeezes his neck softly and holds his back like his mother would, which probably isn't the connection Bez should make between Alex and his Mom, but the comfort is undeniable.
This soft but strong hold only shatters Bez further. He shoves his face into the crook of Alex's neck and shoulder and wraps his arms around Alex's torso squeezing an almost painful amount.
Bez is full-on sobbing, he's a blubbering mess occasionally throwing out a wobbly “Sorry” before it's shushed by Alex. Bez, rather than calming down keeps working himself up further and further, heaving and wheezing out sobs and apologys. He can hear Alex taking a couple of deep breaths before he hears him murmur “Deep breaths.” which Bez tries to do as best he can.
He pulls in a long, shuttering breath, before letting out a cacophony of sobs, “I can't!” he wails.
Alex shushes his again, “Shhh it's ok, just follow my breathing, ok?”
it feels like hours of breathing and tapered-off sobs before Bez is breathing calmer, but still stuttered breaths. After another deep breath, Alex pulled back a little bit to get a look at Bez before asking “Do you want to shift? We can move this to a more comfortable place, ‘cause I don't know about you, but my knees are starting to hurt.”
This startles an ugly snort out of Bez and he gurgles out a week and wet little “yeah.” Before Alex knows it his lap is full of raccoon that are clinging to his shirt. He stands, groaning at the lingering pain of being on his knees for a long period, and makes his way over to the couch where Alex grabs the blankets and hoodies with his unoccupied hand. The other supports the back of the now raccoon Bez on his chest.
Swiftly Alex makes his way into the Bedroom where he internally apologizes to Marc, placing Bez in the center of the bed. Alex shuffles the bedspread around as Bez curls up chittering sadly at having been let go.
Alex sets down the blankets and hoodies that were in his offhand around Bez like a little barrier to prevent him or Alex himself from rolling off the bed. Only after the circle barrier is set up does Alex relax a bit, shifting into his Cat form and jumping up onto the bed to join Bez in the Comfort Circle he has since dubbed it in his brain.
After he climbs the walls and enters the circle Alex trills at Bez to show him that he's there now. Bez chitters back quietly all while reaching for Alex's now smaller form. Flopping down on the wall and rolling onto his side, Alex raises a paw and trills again, signaling for Bez to come to him. and that is exactly what Bez does.
He throws himself at Alex's cat body and starts petting and grooming the fur on his back and sides. This goes on for a little while before Bez settles down and he shuffles himself to lay alongside Alex, before going to sleep.
Bez however doesn't sleep for long, waking up after 20 minutes and resuming his grooming on Alex. Having only just started picking and petting Alex, Bez is in the zone until he starts to get an itch.
Specifically that itchy feeling that happens he gets when he's being watched, so he looks up, hoping to quell the itch only to see him.
The man he has been trained to hate and destroy.
The only person who can cause him to crash at just a glance.
my brain has been hooked on the animal versions of the VR45 Academy drivers + Marquez bros and ive been cooking up ideas. specifically a shapeshifter!AU with some pack dynamics
the Marquez brothers are both cats, Marc is a black cat and Alex is tuxedo (x). it makes sense in my mind that because they are siblings they shift into the same type of animal. i initially was thinking that they should be torties, where Marc is a regular black/orange one and Alex is grey tortie (x). they have tripped each other at night multiple times since they blend in with the dark so well. they also get along very well with their dogs in their shifted form.
heading into the VR46 Academy, i think that Valentino would definitely be that rat dog that has been circulating twitter. i also think that its incredibly funny that even though hes tall as a person hes a tiny dog shifted. he also acts like a little rat dog, always cranky but somehow is able to run at mock 20 when theres the space. the type of dog to grows and howl at being picked up but once put in a warm blanket is out in less than a minute.
I also agree with the masses that Pecco is a rat, more specifically a fancy rat, he seems like the kinda guy that would shift and hide in the other academies pockets in order to avoid talking to people. he also low key seems like he would a clean freak, and rats are notoriously an animal that trys to keep clean. he has destroyed the toilet paper in the main bathroom on multiple occasions in order to get a more comfortable and warm nest, eventually everyone gets fed up of going to the bathroom only for the toilet paper to look like its been to hell and back and gives pecco proper bedding/his own personal toilet paper to destroy.
i saw someone mention that Bez would be a raccoon, and i agree! i initially was deliberating whether he was a tanuki/Japanese Raccoon dog or a plain raccoon. Tanuki as supper fluffy and more dog shaped, but they are solitary animals unless they are mated. I figured with Bez very much NOT being a solitary person, that wouldnt work, so i went with raccoons. he would walk over (shifted) and just put his hands up asking for uppies, steal the food of whoever picked him up, then run away. scares the shit out of valentino one night because he just stood in the door way staring at vale like a kid who just threw up (x)
Franky would absolutely be a bull terrier. when i saw a picture of a bull terrier i immediately thought that it looked like Franky. kinda scary on the outside but an absolute cutie on the inside. theres also this picture of a bull terrier carrying a rat on its head and i think that also personafies Franky and Peccos relationship. he is the type of guy that would be riled up. it would be the classic dad/Vale saying "dont rile up the dog" then Bez absolutely riling up Franky. He has also, on multiple occasions, slid-hit the wall at the end of the hallway while playing.
Luca, unlike the Marquez brothers, isnt the same species/a dog like Valentino is since they have different dads. it took me a while to figure out what Luca would be, i searched for so long trying to find a good representation and i finally landed on a Eurasian Lynx. i first was going to go with a ferret but i figured that it didnt fit that well. sometimes when hes shifted he freaks out the others for fun with his growls and screams. the others dont think its funny because every time Luca screams they think that hes hurt (x) when he is in fact just sunbathing 90% of the time.
finally, the girl-fail himself, Cele. i also had a pretty hard time trying to figure out what animal he would be. i was going to go with a green eared parakeet, but then my sibling showed me the asian golden cat and i just had to go with that. spends his time either sleeping or rough housing Luca, but it just ends up looking like those videos of cubs trying to fight their mom or something, except they are basically the same size so its a little funny to watch.
i imagine there are some other shifters in the paddock, maybe Enea as like a bear, jorge being a maine coon maybe (i feel like he would lay around Aleixs neck like a scarf when theyre relaxing), probably some others that i cant think of right now would also be shifters or are human but apart of some shifter packs.
all that aside im thinking of writing some short fics of the VR46 pack reconciling getting to know the Marquez pack/bros. ideas are bubbling and im going to try and pump them out! also please tell me if im missing anyone from the academy or if theres someone you want to specifically see in the AU
