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It was already late when Charles walked home from the bar. His friends had taken him out for a few drinks and it had been fun, getting to ramble in his mother language for once and just enjoying himself carelessly.
He felt tired now though, regretting not taking an uber and instead making his way back home by foot. It wasn’t far, but he had already stopped to take photos with fans 3 times and he just really wanted to have a glass of water and conk out while watching skateboarding fail videos.
But it seemed his night was going to take yet another turn when he saw a familiar person walking around with a lost look on his face.
“Evening, Max.” Charles said as amicably as possible. The Red Bull driver looked up from where he had been crouched down looking through some bushes. Max smiled sheepishly, straightening up and brushing his hands down the front of his sweater, which was looking a little dusty.
“Evening.” Max murmured, seemed to try and be nonchalant but failing as he bit his bottom lip, his eyes flicking around the area. Charles cocked his head to the side curiously, suddenly less exasperated about yet another thing separating him from his fail compilations.
This was intriguing.
“Are you okay?” Charles asked. “Hiding a date from me.” He added with a cheeky grin. Max rolled his eyes and huffed a bit.
“Why would I bother to hide a date from you. It’s not like I care about your opinion.” He answered, which only made Charles smirk more.
“What is it then?” he asked, ready to tease the Dutchman some more. It was his favorite way to pass time, anyways. But Max didn’t seem to get annoyed and riled up as always. No, he seemed worried.
“I left my balcony door open. One of my cats got out.” Max suddenly blurted out. “They are still so young, I’m afraid he won’t find his way home.” Charles stared at him for a moment, trying to digest the unexpected information.
“Your… cat?” Charles asked slowly. Max nodded, getting out his phone and showing him a picture of two very identical looking cats snuggled on his lap.
“It’s the one on the right, Jimmy. I saw Sassy was still asleep on the sofa.” Max murmured. Charles hummed, scrolling through some more pictures and trying not to be amused when Max’s camera roll seemed to be endless cat pictures.
“I’ll help you look for him.” Charles sighed, feigning to be annoyed while really he still found the whole situation very entertaining. Max blinked.
“Oh no, that’s not needed. I’ll manage.” Max told him. Charles waved his concerns away.
“Don’t be silly. I had about 5 espresso martini’s tonight. I had enough caffeine to find a whole zoo.” He said resolutely. “Now, let’s first check your apartment again to make sure they didn’t come back.” He added, walking in the general direction of where he thought Max lived. Max quietly walked after him, not protesting about Charles seeing his home, which somewhat surprised Charles once more.
Charles had seen some pictures of Max’s apartment, especially the balcony, when he had been stalking the Dutchman’s Instagram a while back. He had expected it to be neat and cold, almost like no one lived there as the reality of their work was that they barely ever got to be home.
But he was wrong.
While the kitchen seemed to be in the expected ‘barely used’ condition, the living room was spacious and homely, and when Charles peeked into one of the bedroom, it was slightly messy but cozy looking too.
Charles huffed in surprise when something soft bumped into his leg, and looked down to see one of the cats looking up at him with big green eyes.
“Bonjour.” Charles told the animal awkwardly.
He always had been more of a dog person.
Max came over and picked the cat up, hugging it close and murmuring something in Dutch.
Charles snorted.
“What?” Max sighed in exasperation. Charles smirked.
“You put up a baby voice when you talk to them.” He giggled. Max glared in return.
“They… they are just cute, okay?” Max said, clearly giving up on defending himself already.
“I suppose.” Charles mused. He padded around the bedroom and kitchen a bit, pretending he was looking for the missing cat instead of snooping around. It wasn’t every day that you got an excuse to walk around your arch enemy’s apartment freely, and Charles was going to make good use of it!
“Jimmy really isn’t back yet…” Max murmured worriedly after 20 minutes or so. He seemed worried, and it was oddly endearing.
“Why don’t you stay here, to make sure you are here when he comes back. And I’ll go outside and look around a bit more.” Charles decided resolutely.
He had no more rooms to snoop around in anymore anyways.
Max handed him a little box of cat treats, telling him to shake it as it often would tempt Jimmy to come over. Charles hummed a bit at the box, shaking it lightly and flinching as Sassy instantly meowed and tried to wiggle out of Max’s hold towards Charles.
“I better go.” Charles said, stepping backwards and eying the young cat warily. Max didn’t seem to notice his disdain for the cat, too focused on murmuring to the spotted beast and smiling as the cat bumped its head against Max’s cheek.
Charles tried not to go soft at the sight.
Cat dad Max was lowkey adorable.
~~~`
Charles spend the good part of an hour looking for Jimmy. He had no clue what places cats would like to hide in, but it certainly wasn’t the trashcans he peeked in. It started to rain too, not too bad but still enough to soak through Charles’s thin sweater. Charles still didn’t give up. Something about seeing Max being so worried about his cats made Charles feel all tingly, and he just wanted Max to stop being so worried and smile at the cats again.
Or smile at him
Charles ignored that last thought.
He must have looked like a madman, shaking the tin of cat treats and awkwardly calling out Jimmy’s name while looking in any cat shaped hiding spot. But he was determined to find the wretched animal now and bring them back to Max.
He was just about to grumpily kick a stone in frustration when he heard a soft meow to his right. He stopped in his track, barely even breathing as he tried to listen for another sound. He shook the can of treats once, and gasped when he heard another meow.
“Jimmy?” Charles called, hoping it wasn’t some other, feral, cat that would scratch and bite him. He shrieked when something bumped into his legs, but was relieved to find a spotted cat with bright green eyes looking up at him. Charles awkwardly patted the cat’s head a bit, and dropped one of the treats on the floor for him to take. He stood there staring at Jimmy for a long moment, unsure about how he was going to bring Jimmy back to Max now.
He looked around for a box to put Jimmy in, or something else to help him carry the animal, but when he found none, he realized he would have no choice but to carry the animal.
“If you scratch me, I will leave you here.” Charles told Jimmy, before carefully lifting the cat up, awkwardly trying to find a position where no cat nails were dangerously to his throat, and Jimmy was comfortable enough to not wiggle around like a madman.
“Just as fussy as your cat dad.” Charles scoffed, before starting to shuffle his way back to Max’s apartment. Just as he was going up the stairs to Max’s place, Jimmy started to get a bit too excited about being home and scratched Charles’s cheek in his attempt to get to the apartment faster.
Charles cursed, trying not to drop the cat while knocking on the door. The bright smile when Max opened soothed the pain in his cheek a bit.
Shame the beaming grin was aimed at Jimmy.
“You found him!” Max said, taking Jimmy from Charles and cradling the animal close, even kissing the top of the cat’s head and murmuring something sweet in Dutch. Charles just awkwardly stayed where he was, soaked with rain and with a scratch on his cheek, until Max looked him in the eye.
“Thank y- Shit, you are soaking! And did Jimmy scratch you? Come in, come in…” The Dutchman said uncharacteristically frantically. Charles let himself be pulled inside, almost tripping over Sassy, who had come to inspect the commotion, and letting out a huff when Max pushed him down to sit on the sofa.
Max placed Jimmy down way more carefully, and then rushed off suddenly.
He returned with a fleece blanket which he carefully wrapped around Charles’s shoulders (the Monegasque demon was too stunned to speak) and a first aid kit.
“Let me disinfect the scratch, okay? They can get infected pretty nastily.” Max murmured, readjusting the blanket around Charles a bit before opening the first aid kit
The blanket cocoon was nice and cozy, but Charles couldn’t help but feel like Max was safely wrapping Charles up so Charles couldn’t scratch him while he was disinfecting it. Charles drew in a sharp breath when Max pressed an alcohol soaked cotton ball against his cheek and did momentarily consider scratching Max, but instead just pouted and huffed a bit.
“Sorry.” Max murmured sheepishly. His free hand curled around Charles’s other cheek to gently keep him place, the pressure warm and gentle enough to make Charles shudder slightly. “There, all done.” He whispered, his hand lingering on Charles’s cheek a bit.
Max’s eyes were really pretty from this close.
Charles was abruptly pulled from his thoughts by a meow and one of the cats – Charles did not know which one – jumped onto Charles’s lap.
“They like you.” Max remarked, straightening up again and looking down on Charles with a surprisingly tender expression.
“Not sure if it is mutual yet.” Charles replied, letting out an alarmed squeak as the cat climbed further up his chest and sniffed at his face. Max gently nudged the cat back down again, scratching behind the animal’s ear until the cat purred and laid down on Charles’s lap in a neatly curled up ball.
“Thank you, for helping me I mean. You didn’t have to do that.” Max murmured a bit awkwardly, sitting down next to Charles on the sofa.
Both drivers avoided the other’s eyes.
“It’s okay. But next time I’ll just stick to seeing your cats inside the apartment.” Charles joked, before realizing that it sounded like he was inviting himself over again.
“I’d like that.” Max murmured. Charles blushed and pushed the cat gently off his lap before standing up, dropping the blanket too and nodding resolutely.
“I better get going.” He said, not waiting for Max to answer and walking to the front door. He heard Max follow him, and then felt a warm hand on his arm. He turned and found Max looking equally flustered.
“Now you know where I live, and have snooped around every room-“ Max started.
Shit, Charles hadnn’t been as subtle as he had thought.
“-Maybe you really can come by again? To see the cats.” Max continued, chuckling a bit at the busted expression on Charles’s face. Charles hummed.
“I’ll think about it.” He said jokingly. “Yes, I’d like that,” he quickly added when Max’s face fell, the Dutchman not seeming to recognize the joking tone in his voice.
“Great.” Max replied, his cheeks seeming to become an even darker pink. Charles still didn’t move, although he already had one hand on the doorknob.
He just had to try and push his luck.
“So, what am I getting as reward?” he blurted out, knowing his eyes flicked to Max’s lips without permission from his own brain. Max seemed to notice the movement, seeming to brace himself.
“This.” He breathed out, leaning in to press the tiniest kiss to Charles’s cheek, soft pink lips making Charles shudder.
“Is that a-“ Charles started, trying to ignore his own heart making somersaults in his chest before gasping when Max shut him up by placing the next kiss firmly on Charles’s lips.
“There you go.” Max muttered, letting go of Charles and stepping back. Charles stared dumbly, but then nodded, turning and opening the door.
“Don’t let the cats out.” He called over his shoulder, not even looking back as he heard Max chuckle.
Charles smiled widely as he walked home, feeling more tipsy and giddy than he had been walking home from the bar a mere few hours earlier.
Maybe he could find himself becoming a cat person.