Work Text:
Pierre frowned as he looked around his living room. It all looked ordinary; coffee cups dotted around, plants in need of watering and blankets draped over the back of chairs. All expect one blanket. His neon green fluffy Alpha Tauri blanket. The one the team had gifted him from the new line, the one that he took everywhere with him because it was so cozy. And yet it was missing. Missing from his own apartment. This wasn't just an amateur, he was dealing with a professional thief. He knew the blanket was there this morning, he'd had it draped over his shoulders when he'd had breakfast. And he knew he'd left it on the sofa. But now it was gone.
Frown deepening, Peirre thought through the list of people that could be to blame. It was, admittedly, a short list, he hadn't had many people round today.
Pyry had of course been with him for most of the day. His trainer had turned up just after breakfast, ready to take Pierre through his morning routine. Pyry had never shown any interest in stealing the blanket but Pierre couldn't be too careful. But then again Pierre couldn't remember ever seeing Pyry with a blanket. His trainer was rarely bothered by the cold, and on the occasions he had mentioned being a little chilly he would then set off on a quick run to warm himself up. So maybe that ruled Pyry out of being the blanket thief, but Pierre would still have to quiz him to make sure.
Next on the list was Yuki, and while Pierre wouldn't put it past his teammate to steal something out of pure spite, he knew Yuki absolutely hated his blanket. The first time Yuki had seen it, he'd almost dropped to the ground, one hand covering his eyes as he whined about the brightness. When Pierre had next worn the blanket, Yuki had pulled out a pair of sunglasses, claiming that he wanted to save his eyesight. Pierre had just rolled his eyes and held the blanket out matador style causing Yuki to shriek and run away. In turn Franz had told them to knock it off, but then suggested that the team get Yuki a matching blanket, making the younger driver gag.
So Yuki had a motive for getting rid of the blanket, and he had been in his apartment recently. It was certainly more plausible than Pyry stealing it. Pierre gasped, holding a hand over his mouth as a sudden thought crossed his mind. What if Yuki had gotten rid of his blanket? What if he never got it back?
He felt anger building up at the thought, he knew Yuki loved his pranks and annoying him but this would be a step too far. This was something their relationship would never come back from.
Luckily they had a team meeting that afternoon so he wouldn't have to wait long to get answers.
That is, if Yuki was the one who took the blanket, the little voice niggled again and he hummed in agreement. Just because Yuki hated the blanket didn't mean that he was behind the stealing.
The only other person that had been in his apartment recently was Charles. That thought stopped him dead. Charles was notorious for stealing other people's stuff, during their karting years he'd just take random stuff, most of the time by accident or so he claimed. Pierre knew for a fact Charles had taken several of his jumpers and hoodies over the years and tried to lie about it. But it was hard to lie about it when said items of clothing were strewn about his bedroom. But Charles would always pout adorably and distract Pierre from being upset about it and as time went on Pierre just accepted that his boyfriend was a thief.
But he'd never thought he'd stoop so low. Charles knew that Pierre loved that blanket, it was his favourite, the softest one that he had and the one that he used the most. Maybe that was why he'd stolen it.
There was only one way to find out for sure, gather the evidence and interrogate the two of them.
He spent the next couple of hours putting together his plan of attack, compiling screenshots from his messages with Yuki and Charles so they couldn't act like they'd never been over. He added photos of the blanket and even talked to the building's doorman who confirmed that Pyry, Yuki and Charles were the only ones who'd come to see Pierre. It was foolproof, he was confident that he'd find his blanket and then he could enact his revenge.
If he wasn't able to hide his glare when looking at Yuki during the meeting then no one mentioned it, Yuki chatting away completely oblivious to the fact that Pierre was on his trail.
As the meeting finished and Yuki scrambled for the door, Pierre grabbed the back of his jumper holding him back.
"Pierreeee," he whined, "lemme go, I just wanna nap."
"Oh it won't take long, just a quick question. You free for lunch tomorrow? I know you came round earlier but Charles was over so I feel like we didn't actually get a chance to talk."
Yuki nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah sounds fun, I don't have anything planned."
"Awesome, so I'll see you tomorrow."
Yuki nodded again before heading off and Pierre just watched him go.
Ah so eager and naive Yuki, you have no idea that I know.
He shook his head as he headed out to his car, it was almost too easy. Now he just had to get Charles to come over the day after and soon he'd have his blanket back with him.
Convincing Charles to come over for dinner the next day didn't take any effort whatsoever. Peirre had barely sent the text when Charles replied, enthusiastically accepting and stating that he'd bring desert which meant one of two things. One, either Charles would actually bring a desert - hopefully Tiramisu - or two, after dinner Charles would lay down in the centre of Pierre's bed and proclaim himself the desert. Sometimes it would be both and those times were Pierre's favourites. But Charles also was well aware that he had Pierre wrapped around his little finger and if he actually had stolen the blanket he'd try and distract him with sex. So if Charles acted even more enthusiastic than usual, then Pierre knew he was hiding something.
It wasn't hard to tell when Charles was lying, he tended to talk too much and throw in too many irrelevant details. Most of the times he'd come clean on his own, Pierre just had to sit and wait.
But first, he had to double check that it wasn't Pyry. Who knows he might have just put it in the wash or something. Definitely best to double check before he went around accusing people like a crazy person.
Pyry was cooking when Pierre got back to the apartment, his personal trainer giving him a quick wave before turning his attention back to the hob.
"I'm just going to do some work, call me when it's finished? Pierre asked and Pyry nodded.
"Sure, it'll be about another half hour roughly," he called back.
Good, Pierre thought as he headed into the office, half an hour gives me enough time to finish my argument.
Staring at the half complete board he cracked his knuckles and got back to work. The printer sprung into life as Pierre sent picture after picture, while he mapped out how it would all be arranged. He'd have to swap out some of the evidence with each person he interrogated but it was a small price to pay. It had to be perfect.
He got so lost in the work that he didn't hear Pyry's calls. It only registered when Pyry knocked on the door, pushing it out as he did so.
"Pierre? Dinners….uh ready?" his physio weakly stated.
Pierre whirled around, eyes widening as he locked eyes with Pyry. His trainer swallowed nervously as his eyes flitted around the room, landing on the board in the corner.
"Uhhhh sorry if I'm interrupting but the foods gonna get cold."
"No no, well yes you're interrupting but it's fine. We can do this now, I finished your evidence anyway, let's just get it out of the way," Pierre exclaimed, gesturing for Pyry to take a seat.
"My, erm, evidence?" he questioned as he slowly dragged out the office chair, realising that it was best to just go along with whatever was happening.
When Pierre had said he was going to do some work before dinner he assumed it was data related and not whatever this was. The small board was covered in pictures and small pieces of paper with Pierre's handwriting scribbled on them all fanning out from a picture of a blanket in the middle. Pyry frowned at the picture, he was sure that it was Pierre's Alpha Tauri one but that didn't explain why Pierre looked like he'd been trying to unravel the meaning of life. He normally loved the passion that Pierre had, always willing to push himself harder and harder to make himself better. He was driven by something that couldn't be taught and was usually one of his best qualities. But Pierre might have taken it too far this time.
"Yes the evidence to suggest that you stole my blanket, it's not a lot admittedly - I'm pretty sure it was Charles or Yuki but I can't rule you out just yet," Pierre stated, a slightly manic look in his eye and he grabbed a ruler off the desk and began pointing at different pictures.
"So this," he tapped the picture of the blanket in the middle, "is my blanket. The Alpha Tauri one. Do you recognise it?" Pierre swung the ruler towards Pyry who nodded hesitantly.
"Good, yes. Well it's missing. And you're one of three people I had over from when I last saw it, I confirmed that with the doorman. So I have just one question, Pyry," Pierre lunged forward, placing his hands on the arm rests of the chair and leaning in close to Pyry. "Did you take my blanket?"
"Er no?"
Pierre stared at Pyry hard for another second before nodding and stepping away.
"Hmm, so where did you go after training this morning? When I was in the shower it was prime time to take it."
Pyry bit back a laugh as Pierre began to pace in front of him, "well if you must know, I went on a date. Which I definitely told you about, because I asked you for a restaurant recommendation."
Pierre stopped short, a small blush appearing on his cheeks as he made a small ahh sound.
"You still could have stolen it beforehand," he argued weakly but Pyry knew he'd won.
"I didn't take it Pierre," he said, pushing himself to his feet and clapping the Frenchman on the back, "I'd focus on Charles and Yuki, I let them both in as I was leaving and it's more up their street to steal your stuff. Now come on, dinner is getting cold."
Pyry walked back into the kitchen, Pierre trailing him muttered apologies which Pyry just waved off. He simply filed it away in his embarrassing Pierre moments drawer in his mind, all waiting for the perfect blackmail opportunity.
As they sat down he saw the small pout on Pierre's face and sighed lightly.
"So run me through your evidence for Charles and Yuki, maybe I can help?"
Pierre's face lit up and he immediately forgot about the food in front of him in favour of babbling about how Charles was a natural thief and Yuki was chaos personified and he fought back another sigh. He did ask after all, but sometimes he thought he wasn't paid enough for this job. And this was one of those times.
-------------------------------
Pyry made himself scarce the next day, not wanting to be around when Pierre talked to Yuki about the blanket. He'd been a nightmare all evening, obsessing over every last detail of his plan and acting it out with Pyry at least 19 times to make sure 'it was convincing enough.' Then just as Pyry thought it was over, Pierre had a panic and searched the entire apartment from top to bottom out of fear that he'd just missed the blanket that morning. He ran around yelling about how Charles and Yuki would never let him live it down if he was wrong while Pyry just watched with an amused expression. This was definitely being saved as blackmail material.
Eventually though, Pierre concluded that the blanket definitely wasn't in the apartment and went back to his board, mumbling to himself.
He passed Yuki on the way out, clapping the younger man on the shoulder and wishing him luck to which Yuki just stared at him. Half of Pyry wanted to stay and watch but he'd had enough of crazy Pierre for a while; besides he had a second date to go to.
Yuki watched Pyry leave, the older man whistling which combined with his words felt rather ominous but Yuki just shrugged. If Pyry was leaving it meant that he wasn't going to suffer death through workout. He wasn't sure why the trainer was so obsessed with torturing them, he wasn't sure what he'd done to make Pyry hate him that much.
He briefly considered using the spare key he'd had made - that Pierre didn't know he had - but he wanted to keep it a secret so knocked hard on the door. Continuing to knock until Pierre pulled it open with an annoyed expression but Yuki just grinned at him and slipped inside.
The apartment looked the same as yesterday, if anything it looked… dishevelled? Like Pierre had been rummaging around for something.
"Did you lose something?" he asked as he flung himself down onto the settee, pulling a cushion onto his lap.
"Eh you could say that," Pierre replied, still hovering near the door.
"So what's for lunch then?" Yuki questioned when Pierre still made no attempt to move.
"Oh we'll get to lunch, but first we need to talk," the Frenchman said, finally pushing away from the wall and heading towards his home office. He beckoned Yuki over as he disappeared behind the door.
Yuki grumbled but didn't argue, it didn't seem like complaining would change anything anyway. He kept hold of the cushion, hugging it to his chest as he crossed the room.
Pushing it open he was surprised to see the lights off, and he squinted into the gloom not making out his teammate. He stilled for a second, hugging the pillow harder as his stomach twisted. Things had been going well with Pierre but what if he'd taken things too far with his pranks? Was Pierre planning something to humiliate him as revenge?
"Pierre?" he called out, biting his lip as silence greeted him.
He squeaked as he was suddenly dragged forward and the door slammed shut behind him. He backed up rapidly, bumping into the door as he held the pillow up in front of his face in defence.
He squinted again as a light came on. But it wasn't the main room light, this was more of a director's light and it was aimed directly at his face.
"Pierre, I don't… wha?" he mumbled, trying to cover his eyes with the pillow but it was yanked from his hands.
He yelped, hand flying to the doorknob in an attempt to leave because this was freaking him the hell out and if Pierre was trying to embarrass him then it was working and this was too much and-
"Hey Yuki woah calm down, calm down," Pierre's voice cut through Yuki's panic and the light was shifted away from his face.
Yuki scrubbed a hand over his face, blinking heavily to dispel the black spots that had descended across his vision.
"You okay?" Pierre asked after several seconds and Yuki nodded, hand moving to curl in his hoodie as he composed himself.
"Yeah, just freaked me out for a second," he muttered, glancing away from his teammate.
"Sorry, that didn't exactly go the way I imagined it," Pierre sighed, before shaking his head.
"Okay," he clapped, "take a seat, we'll try this again and then we can have lunch," he stated, gesturing to the desk chair which was in the middle of the room. As Yuki looked around he saw a board covered in photos and scribbles and he bit his lip as he realised what was happening.
Okay just play it cool, he thought, he doesn't have any real proof, we can get out of this.
He slowly lowered himself down and forced himself to breathe normally. He just had to act dumb, and act normal.
"What's going on Pierre? What's happening?"
"What's happening Yuki is that my blanket is missing and you're one of the suspects."
Okay breathe, breathe, it's fine. This is fine.
"What? Pierre, what blanket, I don't understand," he pitched his voice higher, trying to appear even more confused.
"The Alpha Tauri blanket, the green one," he clarified, gesturing towards the board. "It went missing yesterday after you had been in the apartment, and you enjoy annoying me, so that makes you a key suspect."
"The green one? Ew no Pierre I hate that blanket."
"Exactly, that gives you motive. You hate it and want to get rid of it - well if you actually have gotten rid of it then we can't be friends anymore Yuki."
If only Pierre knew that he'd spent last night wrapped up in that blanket in his own apartment because it was so damn warm and comfy.
"But it's so gross," he argued, "I wouldn't even want to touch it. I don't want it anywhere near me."
Seeing that Pierre didn't look convinced Yuki changed track.
"What about Charles? I saw him cuddling with it yesterday and he always steals your stuff. He even tried to steal my stuff because he thought it was yours and only gave it back when he realised it was too small!"
"You saw him with it yesterday?" Pierre clarified and Yuki felt himself relaxing slightly. Seemed like Pierre was taking the bait. Obviously Charles was a prolific clothes stealer so it wasn't that hard to suggest he was responsible for it.
"Yeah, he was snuggled under it when you were in the kitchen yesterday, I could see that he really liked it."
Pierre nodded, mumbling under his breath as he studied his board. Yuki tried not to sweat too much as he squirmed uncomfortably in the chair.
"Of course you could just be blaming Charles to shift the blame away from yourself," Pierre stated and for a second it felt like Yuki had stopped breathing. His mouth twitched to defend himself but forced himself to stay quiet. If he argued too heavily Pierre might get suspicious. Instead he just blinked innocently up at his teammate.
Pierre hummed as he looked at Yuki, he was torn. On one hand he knew what Charles was like but on the other hand was Yuki being too innocent.
"How can I trust you're telling the truth?" he finally asked and Yuki pursed his lips.
"I may hate that blanket but I could tell you loved it, so I wouldn't get rid of it," Yuki finally said.
Pierre hummed again, leaning down to look Yuki in the eye, searching for any hint that he was lying.
Yuki stared unflinchingly back, eyes staining as he tried to avoid blinking.
The two teammates continued their staring contest for a couple more seconds until Pierre blinked, Yuki cheering as he giggled at the annoyed look on his teammates face.
"Fine you win," Pierre grumbled, "and I guess I trust that you didn't take it."
"Great, now lunch?" Yuki replied, jumping to his feet as Pierre just sighed.
"Sure, let's do lunch."
That was close, too close, Yuki thought as he trailed after Pierre, back into the living room. He cast a glimpse behind him at the board, thanking his lucky stars that Charles was so easy to blame. He brought it on himself though, Yuki mused, he was constantly stealing Pierre's stuff. Most of the time Pierre either didn't notice or just ignored it, but it made it so easy to blame things on him. Pierre had only caught Yuki stealing his stuff a few times, the rest of the time he was able to pin things on the Monegasque.
And sure, Yuki probably should have waited until they were away for a race, it would have made it easier to convince Pierre that he'd simply misplaced the blanket. Taking it from his home was bold and if given the opportunity again, Yuki would have waited. But oh well. What's done is done, and for now Pierre didn't suspect him. It might get interesting after Pierre talked to Charles but that was something to deal with another day.
After scarfing down some lunch and helping himself to snacks Yuki made himself scarce. Pierre had mentioned Charles was coming over later that afternoon and he did not want to be around when Pierre started interrogating him. It might be quite amusing but he couldn't risk Charles noticing his guilt.
-------------------
After Yuki left, Pierre tried to center himself. So far his plan was not working. First Pyry walked in on him before he was ready and then he almost gave Yuki a panic attack. He hadn't expected his teammate to react like that but he supposed he did come on a little strong. Still at least Yuki was okay about it, the last thing he needed was Franz telling him off for bullying. And somehow Yuki seemed sincere about not wanting to mess with something Pierre loved. He still wasn't a hundred percent sure that Yuki was innocent but he had made some good points about Charles.
He was last up and after the issues he'd been having he needed to make sure that his interrogation of Charles was perfect. Nothing could go wrong.
-----------------------
Charles whistled as he pushed the door to Pierre's apartment shut, tossing his keys into the small bowl on the side. He continued whistling as he wandered further into the living room, stopping abruptly as he saw Pierre. His boyfriend was sitting in the corner, and he slowly spun around bond villain style - complete with a cat in his lap - when he heard Charles come in.
"Errr hi?" Charles greeted but Pierre remained silent.
"Aha mon Cheri, what's happening? Oh are doing the role playing thingy again? That's cool, and where did the cat come from? Oh, is it for me? An early birthday present, that's so cute-"
"No Charles, we are not role playing and the cat isn't for you."
Charles' face twisted with confusion as he stared at his boyfriend.
"Why do you have a cat if it's not for me? And where did you get it from? And if we're not role playing, why are you sitting like that?"
"Charrrles, you're ruining the dramatic effect," Pierre whined.
"Dramatic… Pierre what the heck. Whose cat is that?"
"It's Mrs Curtiss' next door, he just wandered in and I thought it would make a good addition," Pierre explained as the cat got bored of being held and jumped off, rubbing around Charles' ankles who immediately bent down to fuss at the animal.
"Well aren't you adorable, yes you're so cute, I may have to steal you from Mrs Curtiss."
"Charles…"
"Look at your little face, you're the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"Charles seriously! We need to talk."
Charles' stomach dropped at the words, swallowing heavily as he stood up, cradling the cat in his arms for comfort as he tried to form a response.
"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked in a small voice and at least now Pierre seemed shocked, standing up and pulling Charles in for a brief hug.
"What? No, Charles I'm not breaking up with you. At least not right now, your honesty to what I'm about to ask you might be enough."
His words didn't do a lot to dispel Charles' nerves.
"Well what do you want to ask me? What could be so serious?"
Charles was expecting something the press had dragged back up again, something from when he was younger and dumber. Or well anything apart from what Pierre actually said.
"Did you steal my blanket?"
Charles let out a laugh, waiting for Pierre to join in but as the Frenchman continued to just watch him, it died off.
"I'll ask again. Did you steal my blanket?"
"Jesus Christ Pierre, are you serious? You scared the shit out of me, and all because of a blanket?"
The cat meowed loudly, wriggling around in Charles' arms. Charles bent slightly and loosened his grip, allowing the cat to jump down where it headed for the settee, eyes seemingly glancing between the two drivers. It almost looked like the cat was judging them and honestly Charles couldn't blame it, this was a pretty bizarre situation.
"It's not just any blanket though. It's my alpha Tauri one, the really nice snuggly one," Pierre pouted and Charles snorted again.
"I did not steal your blanket, if I wanted a blanket I would have just bought one."
"Oh like you decided to just buy new hoodies? No you didn't - you stole mine," Pierre accused, jabbing his finger into Charles' chest.
"Yours are nicer," Charles tried to weakly protest but Pierre just scoffed.
"Exactly. Case and point. You saw my blanket and you wanted it so you took it."
"Pierre, I did not steal your blanket!"
"That's exactly what a blanket thief would say to hide their crime."
The two stared at each other for a second, regarding one another with serious expressions.
"So where do we go from here? If you obviously don't trust me," Charles eventually asked.
"I do trust you," Pierre was quick to answer, "I just think you're lying to me, that's all."
"But I'm not! Pierre, seriously , I didn't touch your blanket."
"It was a process of elimination," Pierre continued, like he hadn't even heard Charles, "around the time the blanket went missing, you, Pyry and Yuki were at my apartment. I've ruled out Pyry and Yuki, which means you're the only one left."
"You ruled out Yuki?" Charles asked incredulously, "the literal demon child that is your teammate? The person who pranks you at any given opportunity and most importantly, the person who hates me."
"Just because you don't always get along doesn't mean that he hates you, and besides, like I said I ruled him out. I did initially think it was him but then I realised that you literally steal my stuff at any opportunity soooo,"
"Okay yes, I like your stuff and sometimes I take things but I swear that I did not take that blanket."
"Well I guess we'll agree to disagree for now, at least until I get a chance to check your apartment for myself."
"Check my…yeah sure, if that's what it takes you can check the apartment when you're next over." Charles sighed.
"You'll probably have hidden it by then," Pierre muttered and Charles rolled his eyes.
"I'd invite you over tomorrow to get this over with but I've got to go to Mugello so I guess you'll just have to take my word for it."
"Hmm fine, although I could just go over without you-"
"No no, you can't, I haven't uh cleaned up, it's a real mess," Charles protested, heart speeding up in concern.
Pierre regarded him suspiciously but didn't say anything.
"I promise I haven't taken the blanket Pierre," Charles tried again, "hand on heart."
Pierre stared at him for another few seconds before nodding, "I can't let you off the hook just yet, but I'll let it go for the moment."
Charles sighed but didn't argue back instead moving to the kitchen calling over his shoulder that he was going to start dinner. He usually wouldn't have minded letting Pierre raid his apartment if it proved a point but Charles couldn't let him do it now. He had to make sure he hid something. And it wasn't a blanket. He grinned as he thought about the small box in his desk drawer, ready for when he was ready. So Pierre couldn't find that just yet.
He placed the tiramisu in the fridge as he pulled out the ingredients to make pasta sauce. He'd brought actual dessert tonight but he was thinking that maybe some sex would help Pierre unwind and maybe distract him from all this blanket nonsense. He was sure he could persuade Pierre into it, it didn't normally take much effort.
-------------------------
It was a few weeks before Pierre got the chance to go to Monaco to visit Charles, and also look for his blanket. He wasn't sure he was going to find it now because if Charles did have it, the delay in searching his apartment would have allowed Charles to move it to a secondary location for the time being. Most likely he would have hidden it at his Mama's house, probably roped Arthur into helping him. Charles was still insisting that he didn't have it and hadn't been involved in the heist but Pierre couldn't rule him out just yet.
Driving into Monaco he was filled with the same happy memories as always, all the times that he had come to visit Charles and the Leclerc's over the years. And this time was no different, the only change was that this was for business. And not just the GP. No, first and foremost he had to decide once and for all whether Charles had stolen his blanket.
"Merci Pascal, and thanks for hearing me out, I know it probably sounded a little crazy."
"Ah Pierre don't worry about it, I know what that boy is like, but rest assured the blanket isn't in any of the boys' rooms. If he has it, it'll be at his."
"Perfect, thank you so much again."
"Not a worry. Now onto nicer topics, you're still coming over for dinner later?"
"Oui, that's the plan."
"Ah magnifique, I've got your favourite - tiramisu."
"Oh Pascal, you spoil me."
"Well someone has too."
"I'm just pulling in now, I'll see you tonight." Pierre waved at the attendant on the gate, pulling out his ID.
"Au revoir Pierre."
"Au revoir."
He nodded his thanks at the attendant as he was waved through and headed towards the designated parking spot for visitors. As was a tradition during the Monaco GP, Pierre was staying with Charles and since they'd both been busy lately he was arriving a few days early so they could catch up. Ransacking the apartment was also on his to do list, especially as he now knew that the blanket wasn't at Pascal's house. And Pierre trusted her unequivocally.
Charles knew he was coming over, was was probably hoping that Pierre had forgotten all about the blanket and so wouldn't be expecting the ambush. And he hadn't told Charles what time he was due to arrive, just that he'd be there by the afternoon. That was another pre-planned feature. He might be able to catch Charles in the act, he was secretly hoping to walk in and find Charles with the blanket. That was the ideal situation, it would make for an open and shut case.
He hummed lightly as he waited for the lift, taking the moment to respond to a text from Yuki who was complaining about being dragged into the sim for another session. Pierre had never known a driver to hate the sim more than Yuki did, he grumbled constantly when it was in his race preparation plan. He understood the annoyance but also the team's point of view. Monaco was a tricky circuit and even though Yuki had raced it before, he'd never done it in an F1 car.
Maybe they should invite Yuki round at some point during the weekend? It would be quite nice to show the younger driver around, they could take him to the little hole in the wall places that the tourists didn't know about. Maybe it would help Yuki relax a little bit as well, Pierre had noticed he'd been upset over his last couple of races not going to plan.
He was already planning what they'd do as he arrived at Charles' door and he paused briefly, listening for voices. He didn't need an audience for this.
Satisfied that Charles didn't have guests over, Pierre unlocked the door and slipped inside.
"Charles? It's only me," he called out but was met with silence.
"Charles?" he called again, dropping his keys into the bowl as he wandered further into the apartment. The living room and kitchen were empty and the air was still and silent.
Huh. Charles wasn't even here.
He pouted for a split second before his face lit up. This gave him the chance to look around without Charles distracting him.
Moving into the bedroom he dumped his case in the corner before flinging open Charles' wardrobe doors.
His nose wrinkled slightly at the smell, and he made a mental note to tell his boyfriend to do some washing but he pushed ahead, flicking through the numerous hoodies and jumpers.
"Hey, that's mine!" he exclaimed, yanking said hoodie out and inspecting it. "Charles you devil, you said you didn't have it," he muttered, throwing it in the direction of his bed.
Sighing he got back to work, pulling out Charles' drawers and leaving clothes strewn across the room as he searched everywhere. He found a few more of his clothes, which he tossed onto his case as well but so far no sign of the blanket.
Biting his lip he looked around the room, assessing other possible hiding places. Shuffling across on his knees he yanked open the drawers next to the bed, rummaging through Charles' pants and socks.
Still no blanket.
Maybe it was squashed into his desk cabinet? A quick look revealed nothing but paperwork and for some reason an empty ring box. Weird, Pierre thought as he tossed the box back into the drawer.
He sat back on his knees, wincing slightly as he looked at the chaos around him. For once Charles' bedroom had actually been neat and tidy and now it was a complete mess.
Pierre made a mental note to tidy up later - but only if he was proved wrong about this whole situation.
Pushing himself to his feet, he pulled down the sheets and duvet on Charles' bed, just to be on the safe side.
Still nothing. Oh actually, there was one of Pierre's Toro Rosso shirts. He'd gone through so many during those years so he wasn't massively surprised to find one here. He grinned despite it, the idea of Charles sleeping in his clothes was a… very pleasing image. Especially since they normally came up large on Charles.
He shook himself out of those thoughts and wandered back through to the living room. A quick glance around didn't reveal anything but Charles could have stashed it under a cushion, or something.
He shifted a few around, moving the decorative pillows that Pascal had gifted him and looking beneath the actual settee cushions. An old condom wrapper, a pretzel and several loose euros but no blanket. Okay so even though the room looked tidy, Charles desperately needed to do a deep clean.
"Ughhhhh," Pierre cried out, this was getting ridiculous. Charles must have moved it, maybe given it to one of his friends and not his family. He must have. Because Pierre wouldn't be able to stand it if he was wrong about this. Charles would never let it go.
And think of the devil and they shall appear because just as Pierre let out another cry as he dug deeper into the chair this time the front door swung wide open.
"Non Maman, I haven't spoken to him yet, I've only just got in. Yes Maman we'll be over for dinner…" Charles froze as he looked around his living room, eyes locking with Pierre's as the Frenchman let out a triumphant sound and held up some more change.
"Ah Maman? I'll have to call you back. Yes, je t'aime aussi, bye."
He pursed his lips as he dropped the food bags in the kitchen, keeping one eye on his boyfriend as he did.
"Do I need to call Pyry? Is this some kind of breakdown? It's okay to admit you're struggling pear-"
"Non non, I'm fine, at least I will be when I find that blanket."
"The blank… oh Pierre not this again," Charles sighed.
"I told you I'd find it, no matter what."
"Okay mon coeur, but would you like a tea? You seem a little rattled."
"I said I'm fine, I'm almost done."
"Okay, you look, I'll put the kettle on. I've got your favourite biscuits here for when you're done."
Charles flicked the kettle on, reaching up to grab their mugs as he did. Turning around, he placed them down on the island so he could watch Pierre. His boyfriend had now pulled out all the cushions, leaving them scattered around the room. Charles bit back a sigh, he'd only cleaned up that morning in preparation for Pierre staying over and now it was ruined again. Which to be fair, it would have become a mess again fairly soon anyway but still.
The Frenchman now moved to pulling open all the cabinets, moving around his dvd's and CD's just in case the blanket was stuffed behind them. He kept quiet though, Pierre just needed to get this out of his system and they could move on.
The only time he shouted out was when Pierre moved towards the piano.
"Hey hey, no! Be careful with that - I swear if you break it!"
He rubbed a hand over his face, this was not the quiet afternoon with his boyfriend that he was expecting. Sighing, he poured the boiling water into the mugs and added the camomile tea bags. He added a bit of honey to his and paused, "Pierre, do you want any honey?"
"No thanks."
"Okay the teas ready then mon coeur."
Charles grabbed his mug and moved to the other side of the island, settling down on one of his bar stools and pulling the biscuit tin towards him.
"Have you checked the ottoman?" he called over to Pierre, grinning as the Frenchman shook his head and immediately scurried over.
"Oh wait, it's not there is it? No, because I don't have it Pierre!"
"I have to check," came the petulant answer.
"I know Chéri but I think you've checked everywhere - and you even asked my maman to check her house. I think that's thorough enough, I don't have it."
Pierre let out a loud sigh and pushed himself to his feet. He looked around in disbelief before moving to join Charles.
"I was so sure you had it," he muttered as he settled in, wrapping his hand around the mug.
"Well you had a good search, did you check the second bedroom and the ensuite?"
"Yeah," Pierre sulkily muttered again.
"Well that's all you could do Chéri," Charles reached out to rest his hand on top of Pierre's, "so do you accept that I had nothing to do with the blankets disappearance?"
"I guess."
"Okay so we can move past this now?"
A nod. Charles laughed, "Pierre come on, it's not here, let's just move on."
"I am sorry," Pierre said, "I really thought you had it. Though in my defence I did find a few of my things dotted around."
"Yeah well I admitted I like your stuff, especially since we don't get to spend all our time together, it calms me down," Charles admitted.
"I'm sorry, I feel like a dick now."
"Nah it's okay, though if you want to make it up to me later, you can make me feel your dick later."
"Charles!"
"What, gotta make an attempt," he teased back, "but if you actually want to make it up to me, you can tidy up!"
"Yeah okay, I'll do that. That's the least I can do."
"Damn right, it's the least you can do. But finish your tea first, no point it going to waste."
"Your mum's going to laugh at me now," Pierre laughed, shaking his head a little.
"Ah it'll be a fun story for the wedding," Charles shot back.
"The wedding?" Pierre teased, "when did you propose?"
"I ah, I didn't… I just mean that uh, at some point it might be nice?" Charles replied, face flushing as he stuttered out his answer.
Pierre giggled, squeezing Charles hand.
"Relax Sharl, I think it would be quite nice as well."
Pierre leaned over and rested his head on Charles' shoulder, closing his eyes.
"I really am sorry about all of this."
Charles twisted, bending down to press a kiss to Pierre's nose.
"I know, and it's okay. I'll forgive you - I may not forget it for a while but I do forgive you."
The two lapsed into silence as they enjoyed being close to one another.
Charles was thinking about all the ways he could hold this situation over Pierre, knowing that he'd get a free pass for years to come.
Meanwhile Pierre was still thinking about his blanket, seeing as no one who had been in his apartment had the blanket he was facing the truth. Maybe he had misplaced it. Maybe it was all down to him.
Ah, he'd figure it out at some point, but his thoughts turned to what Charles had said. A funny story at their wedding, implying that Charles wanted to spend his life with Pierre. For him it had always seemed certain that he'd end up with Charles but it was warming to know that he felt the same.
----------------------------
Months pass and the blanket fell to the back of Pierre's mind. Alpha Tauri gifts him several more in various colours and he in turn gifts one to Charles as an apology present. His boyfriend had rolled his eyes, sarcastically asking if he needed it in writing that it was actually a present, to save him from any future interrogations which made Pierre sheepishly blush, the knowledge that Charles would never let him live that down plain to see.
If he ever thought of his blanket it was more in a curious sense. Where had he actually left it? He could never come up with an answer for it, remaining sure that he last saw it in his apartment.
He hadn't thought about it in a while when the incident occurred. Hungary was cold and wet and Pierre made good use of his supply of blankets, even offering one to Yuki which the Japanese driver had refused.
Pierre was starting to think Yuki had something about being warm and cozy until he saw Yuki huddled under one of the team blankets in his room after qualifying. He was curled up so small under it that at first Pierre couldn't even see him. It wasn't until Pierre coaxed him out, after several minutes reassuring Yuki that Helmut was wrong and that it was okay it have off days in F1 that Yuki finally popped his head up. He'd been so focused on making sure that Yuki was okay that he didn't pay that much attention to the blanket.
It wasn't until Yuki had calmed down and Charles had joined them that it was even brought up.
"Pierre!" Charles suddenly exclaimed, "It's your fucking blanket!"
Pierre startled at the words, looking down at Yuki who still had the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. The younger driver looked shocked as well, looking up at Pierre with wide eyes.
"Charles just because it's an alpha Tauri one in this colour doesn't mean that it's my blanket," Pierre sighed.
"No no, it is!" Charles continued, "Look it's got the stain in the corner from when I spilt wine on it just like yours did." Charles yanked on the corner drawing a squeak from Yuki as the Japanese driver tried to pull it back.
Leaning around Yuki, Pierre saw that Charles was right. The splodge of red wine that Charles had valiantly tried to clean up - even calling Seb in a panic for help. It would be strange for Yuki to have a team blanket in exactly the same colour and with a stain in exactly the same place. Thinking back to when he realised he was missing it he remembered that Yuki had come round to his apartment around the time when he'd noticed the blanket missing.
He'd ruled Yuki out initially because of the fuss the younger driver had made about the blanket, shuddering and groaning whenever he saw Pierre wearing it - even going so far as to wear sunglasses to the team meetings. And so after it went missing Pierre had initially suspected Yuki might have gotten rid of it but the Japanese driver had claimed innocence, stating that he didn't even want to look at it let alone touch it. And after a further interrogation - which was more of a staring contest than anything else - Pierre had decided that Yuki hadn't had anything to do with the theft.
But here they were. After everything, it was Yuki that had the blanket.
Yuki, his teammate, someone who he thought he could trust. Yuki had stolen his blanket and then lied about it. Lied about it to Pierre's face. Lied about it and then watched him go crazy trying to work out what had happened. Watched him blame Charles for months and months. Watched him and then said nothing.
"Yuki," he breathed out, "Yuki how could you?"
Yuki stared at him with a slightly scared expression but it was tinged with amusement.
"I ah I just-" he tried to explain but Charles cut him off.
"Are you actually joking? You blamed me for ages, we stopped having sex, I thought you were going to break up with me and after all that Yuki bloody had it," he yelled, jumping to his feet and Pierre didn't have the energy to reprimand him.
"What do you have to say for yourself Yuki?" Charles continued, jabbing his finger at Yuki who shrunk back into the settee.
Yuki glanced helplessly at Pierre but the Frenchman was sitting with his head in his hands.
"I can't believe you lied to me like this Yuki, I thought we were closer than this," Pierre said, voice filled with anguish.
Yuki turned back to Charles, blinking up at him with wide eyes.
The Ferrari driver was standing with his hands on his hips, glaring down at Yuki.
"Well, I'm waiting for an explanation," he said and Yuki gulped.
"I ah… it's really warm?" he eventually forced out and at that moment he seriously thought he'd just killed Charles Leclerc. He was gaping at Yuki, mouth opening and shutting without any sound coming out, and beginning to shake slightly.
"Are you kidding me?" he screeched, "are you fucking- No I can't do this. PIERRE! say something."
"You betrayed me Yuki," he muttered, looking up, "you knew how I felt about it, you know how I acted. Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked.
"The lie got too deep," Yuki admitted, "at first I took it because it's really cozy and warm and I thought it would be a nice way to annoy you," he broke off as Pierre made a wounded noise and he hurriedly kept explaining.
"But then you started acting really really crazy about it and you scared me and I realised you were blaming Charles and honestly that was better because I know you love him enough to not kill him and I just uh panicked?" he finished, risking another glance at his teammate who was just staring at him.
"You panicked?" Charles yelled, "do you know what you've done? Do you know the stress you've caused me?" The Monagasque started pacing back and forth in front of the two Alpha Tauri drivers, running a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up in all directions.
"Well a little, I mean I could hear you guys arguing about it…" Yuki trailed off as Charles shot him a glare.
"So you heard us and didn't even say anything?"
Biting his lip, Yuki nodded and Charles sighed loudly.
"I think you were actually put on this earth to cause me stress, I just… I can't believe this," Charles breathed, dropping back down onto the settee, shaking his head in disbelief.
"You can have it back?" Yuki offered, shrugging the blanket off his shoulders but Pierre silently held up a hand.
"No… no I can't. It's tainted now," he whispered. Leaning across Yuki he grabbed Charles' hand, "Mon coeur, I'm so sorry."
Charles squeezed their hands, "It's alright Calamar, it's okay."
Pierre shook his head, "but I blamed you, Charles, the things I said…"
"Shh shh, it's okay Pear," Charles soothed and Yuki fought the urge to gag, it was his worst nightmare - literally stuck in the middle of Charles and Pierre.
"I uh, can I?" Yuki muttered, slipping off the settee and wiggling under their joined hands, landing with a thump on the floor.
Pierre paid no attention, shifting across into Yuki's spot and leaning into Charles.
"I can't believe I blamed you, Charlie please forgive me," Pierre begged and Charles cupped his face.
"I'll always forgive you, it's okay."
Yuki shuffled backwards on the floor, he wasn't sure how this was going to play out but he had a feeling he didn't want to stay around to find out. Whenever Pierre and Charles started getting mushy that was his sign to leave. Eyes darting between the pair Yuki reached forward and snagged the blanket because hey if Pierre didn't want it back there was no reason he couldn't keep it. Blanket firmly in his grasp Yuki once again headed towards the door, hand just touching the handle when he was stopped.
"Nuh uh, Yuki don't you dare," Pierre called out and Yuki felt himself freeze, apparently the Frenchman was over his shock about the revelation.
"You're in trouble," Charles sang out, sounding far too happy about it and Yuki could imagine the smirk on his face.
Swallowing heavily Yuki turned around, groaning when Pierre pointed to the ground in front of the settee. He flopped down, sitting cross legged with a huff as he avoided his teammates eyes.
"You stole my blanket," Pierre stated, "and lied about it when I asked you."
"I'm still kind of upset about today," Yuki tried but Pierre shook his head.
"You're not getting out of this that easily Yuki, do you have anything to say to me?"
"Uh sorry?"
"Well sorry isn't going to cut it," Charles fired back but Pierre placed a calming hand on his leg.
"Let me handle this Charles, I know just what to do," Pierre soothed, all the while grinning at Yuki who shivered under the gaze.
"I just want justice," Charles whispered and as Pierre turned to comfort his boyfriend Yuki took the moment to fire off a quick text for help.
Yuki - SOS. Pls help 😫
Pyry - I'm not sure I want to know.
Yuki - Pyry pls, save me. Pierre might actually have lost it.
Pyry - What did you do this time?
Yuki - Do you remember his blanket? I had it. And he just realised.
Pyry - I'm not getting involved.
Yuki - PYRY PLEASE! I'll do anything
Pyry - sorry buddy, you're on your own. Good luck.
Yuki scowled at his phone, thinking about all the things he'd do to Pyry in revenge while switching over to his chat with Daniil, the Russian was his last chance. But before he got the chance his phone was plucked from his hands.
"Heyyy," Yuki whined, making a grab for it but Pierre waved it above his head.
"Uh uh, you're grounded Yuki, no phone for you."
"Grounded? You can't ground me."
"Watch me." He grinned as Yuki pouted, "and losing the phone isn't your only punishment."
Yuki gulped as Pierre's smile got more manic.
"If you're so fond of the blanket I think you should show people."
------------------
If the team were confused by Pierre literally dragging Yuki into the office by his collar then they didn't show it. There were a few raised eyebrows but Yuki put that down to the sign around his neck that said blanket thief. The blanket itself was safely held in Pierre's arms, back where it belonged.
Yuki flushed as Franz stared at him wordlessly before sighing.
"Do I want to know?" he asked, looking between Yuki and Pierre.
Yuki hesitated, glancing at Pierre but the Frenchman shook his head, "tell them Yuki."
"I stole Pierre's blanket, and lied to him about it," Yuki muttered.
"And let Charles take the blame!" said Monagasque shouted from the other side of the door.
"And let Charles take the blame," Yuki parroted and Franz just sighed again.
"Pierre, you know that we are supportive of your relationship, but can you tell your Ferrari boyfriend to please leave now?"
Pierre snicked but turned and stuck his head out the door, having a few hushed words before returning to his spot beside Yuki.
"As for you Yuki," Franz continued, "you saw how he acted because of that blanket, so I'd say this is getting off lightly."
"The sign stays on for the weekend," Pierre added, sending a few laughs through the room.
"Still getting off lightly," Franz muttered, "right can both of you sit down now so we can finally get this debrief under way?"
Both drivers nodded and made their way to their regular seats.
Pierre fixed Yuki with a smug grin as they sat opposite each other, tucking the blanket around his shoulders and sticking his tongue out.
Yuki pouted, shivering slightly in his t-shirt and he curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his chest.
Pierre felt his conviction sway slightly, Yuki looked so pitiful and only an hour or so ago he'd been sobbing in his driver's room. He sighed, damn it. He wasn't totally heartless.
In one movement he pulled the blanket from his shoulders and leant across the table, draping it over Yuki.
The Japanese driver startled but clutched at it, looking at Pierre with a confused expression.
"Just for tonight," Pierre muttered, "I'll want that back."
Yuki's confusion turned to happiness and he grinned brightly, "You're the best Pear."
Pierre rolled his eyes, turning his body towards Franz as the man finally got the debrief under way, but his mind still wandered.
The case of the missing blanket had been solved and Pierre had learnt his lesson. He knew it was far from the last time Yuki or Charles would steal his stuff and wouldn't be the last time he accused the wrong person. But he found that he didn't mind that much. It was quite nice to think they liked him enough to risk him being angry at them. And Pyry was right, he was a total push over when it came to the people he loved.