Chapter Text
What Etoiles was doing there, he still doubted it. He saw his friend make a sign in the distance and the young man held back a grunt when he went down the steps one by one, avoiding the sudden gestures of people all around and the loud noises rising from all sides. Needless to say, it was a real obstacle course in there.
When he finally sat down, Baghera offered him a big smile that only made him roll his eyes.
“Please Etoiles, at least pretend to smile” she gave him a rather brutal nudge, which almost pushed him out of his already thin bench, “Cellbit had a hard time finding us those seats!”
“But I am very happy! Look, I’m still sitting next to you instead of running away" he defended himself with a mischievous smile that didn’t make his friend smile.
“Hold your tongue or I’ll cut it off” Baghera had taken a gloomy look before looking around to try to find the Brazilian in question, “I thought you would be interested, otherwise I would have asked Antoine”
In a way, she was right, he was definitely lucky to be sitting where he was sitting at this very moment. All around him, it seemed to be the apocalypse : hundreds or even thousands of people had valiantly fought to buy places similar to his and for good reason, they were advantageously placed in the bleachers.
Indeed, Etoiles was, at this very moment, in the audience of one of the largest car racing rallies in the country. And on top of that, he was standing right in front of where the race teams gathered and where the cars came out.
The young man wasn’t particularly fond of this kind of race but he had to admit that if there was something that fascinated him, it was competition. Seeing all these participants from all around the world engaging in a battle armed with a very particular weapon: tapered vehicles that represented speed, it definitely had something exciting.
So a few months ago, when Baghera offered him this very special occasion, he accepted out of pure curiosity and passion to discover something new.
He may have forgotten to think about all that the race involved: the incessant noises, people crawling around in every corner, fans shouting names of pilots he barely knew, commentators testing the microphones. The atmosphere was electrifying and everything was buzzing in all directions so much that he was afraid of being dizzy.
Fortunately a burst of voice in the crowd of hundreds more was heard, in a same gesture, Baghera and Etoiles turned their heads.
“Cellbo!” immediately exclaimed the young woman who got up in a leap, almost falling forward while the man was running down the stairs from the stands.
“Bom dia amigos” Cellbit waved at them, and soon he came to sit beside Etoiles, “Did you have a good trip? Ready for the big show?”
“I think I’m about to explode!” scoffed Baghera, trembling almost as she reached over the knees of Etoiles to hold the hands of the Brazilian, “The selections are so demanding, it ought to be a good race!”
“Not to mention the fact that the team is really late this season, if we win today, we may have a chance for the next races” responded Cellbit, squeezing the young woman’s fingers before looking around, stopping at the sky for a moment, “The weather seems ideal”
As his friend continued the conversation with the young man, he felt like he was dealing with roads and automobiles specialists.
The start and finish of the race were likely to be masterful, it was the words of Cellbit, once again the French didn’t necessarily have a precise opinion on the issue, far from it.
The two friends kept exchanging all sorts of opinions about the different teams, the dramas that had shaken the various drivers and the rumors that ran about some racing strategies. The Brazilian seemed to be aware of everything that was going on, but Etoiles wasn’t surprised.
The real reason for his novice presence was because Cellbit knew personally two of the pilots, who were long-time friends, which allowed him not only to get them seats at an attractive price, but a little surprise that he had not yet revealed to the duo.
So he let them talk about this and that, not understanding the least of the words they said, and he looked around. It is true that the weather was good in the late afternoon, good enough for him not to regret having to sit for at least two hours. To be spectacular, the view was undeniable.
From here he could see the entrance of the paddocks, where the cars rested and roared, still sleepy. Many different silhouettes were busy organizing everything, and as Etoiles detailed the high structure and the iconic checkered line that made the starting point, a noise rang out.
An alarm, a simple alarm, a sound resounding throughout the circuit but which alone was able to excite the entire public.
He held back a burst of laughter when Cellbit got up to shout in turn, soon followed by his friend who jumped on the spot with a big smile. Etoiles did nothing of the sort but he stood up to try to distinguish what was going on.
And it wasn’t long before he understood.
The pilots were walking out of the paddocks one after another, dressed in characteristic colorful suits, speckled with different brands. They made signs to the public, some bowing while others were satisfied with a simple friendly greeting.
“Baghera, who do we support already ?” he couldn’t help but lean towards her, always applauding these people who were too far away for them to recognize anyone.
“The Brazilian team” she replied, with a big smile on her face, “They will soon come out”
Indeed, as soon as she finished her sentence, another wave of applause rang out. Increasingly carried away by the general euphoria, the French turned his head again to finally meet with a glance the reason for his presence here.
The first to come out was a young man who must have had their ages. He wore a very characteristic green garment that made his eyes squint. Yet what surprised him was the hair colored with a candy pink that the pilot wore with pride. With his helmet in hand, he turned several times on himself while proudly brandishing the fist. Cellbit at his side saluted him several times, waving and shouting.
“Mike, one of Cellbit’s close friends. He is very good at endurance but tends not to be strategic enough over long distances. He easily cracks under pressure, but he has a very endearing personality,” Baghera explained, beside him, while her friend continued to applaud loudly, “He recently married Mine, an adorable person. His hair is the same as hers. FIA financed a very small part of their honeymoon. There were even little cars on their wedding cake”
“I doubt the relevance of this information” Etoiles could not help but laugh, still interested in the very tactical aspect that races could take.
The French blinked when he realized that the famous Mike was suddenly making a particular gesture. He began to move his hands as if he was playing drums, a gesture that everyone imitated so much that he almost leaned towards Baghera to ask her. Then he understood when another pilot came out at the moment when the cheers were louder.
The latter jumped several times, before making big gestures, which of course Cellbit imitated just like the young woman.
Etoiles stopped for a second on his appearance. He was wearing a suit with blue accents, he quickly joined his friend by throwing greetings to all the stands.
But it’s a detail that immediately attracted his attention.
The helmet he was wearing.
It was yellow, and it had a very original shape: round with a slit mimicking a mouth.
A smile settled on his lips when he realized that the shape was reminiscent of Pacman.
“This is Pac, Mike’s best friend” continued her friend with the voice of an experienced journalist, “Very good strategy, very good in turns and long distance, I think it’s one of the best elements of the race right now” she replied, always hopping with a huge smile, "But I find him too cautious. He tends to spend time thinking when sometimes you have to take the opportunity, you know what I mean?”
“Not at all” he replied with a wide grin, looking at the way the pilot meets his best friend, hugging each other as one ruffled the hair of the other.
“He is single, there are rumours that he had a fling with a mechanic named Fit, it’s still to be confirmed” she giggled with a mischievous air, before letting her gaze follow the footsteps of the two Brazilians.
“Oh, these are the new rumours?” also laughed Cellbit at his side, looking up with his hands on his hips, “Some years ago everyone thought he was dating Felps, it was really funny to see the edits on social networks”
“Do you think that’s true or not?” obviously the young woman couldn’t help but ask, raising her eyebrows with a suggestive air, Etoiles sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Você não vai conseguir nada” he crossed his arms, shaking his head with an air of determination, “I would remain silent as a grave”
“Rien qu’un rabat-joie” commented Baghera in the direction of his French friend, hoping perhaps that he would agree.
This was not the case, of course.
Etoiles was much more focused on what was unfolding before his eyes, and it had to be admitted that the show was really starting to interest him. The excitement that rose in crescendo in the stands had the gift of making his hair ruffle on his neck, and he loved this feeling. He was beginning to understand the agitation surrounding the race.
The pilots representing the other teams began to come out, one after another. Baghera didn’t need to be asked twice to present them, always adding some rumors that she had heard, under the amused eye of Cellbit, who didn’t hesitate to add more serious facts. There were so much information, so many colors, so many noises that Etoiles hardly realized that the pilots had started to roar their metal machines.
“It’s the start! It’s the start!” shouted Baghera beside him, almost trembling on her seat.
“Vamos Tazercraft! Traga-nos uma vitória!” shouted the Brazilian in return, raising his fist and laughing.
The young man made a smile that soon faded into an expression of deep surprise when the vehicles really started. The speed increased little by little, they measured each other, zigzagging very slightly on the straight line. For a second, the French already found their techniques and speeds impressive, the Ferraris seemed to slide on the ground rather than drive.
Then they all crossed the starting line, and there he really understood how fast everything was. It’s very simple, he barely had time to see them for a few more seconds, before they all disappeared, almost immediately, in the turn.
His friend comes to his rescue very quickly since not only she pointed out the few screens that were placed in the strategic places of the arrival but in addition she immediately took out her phone. As if she had already planned everything, she was on the right application to follow the images of the race on live.
“The start was excellent, did you see how fast Mike was?” The young man was ecstatic, turning to his friends with stars in his eyes.
“It was very risky but he is in the first place, it’s really a chance” Baghera added by jumping almost on the spot while Etoiles found himself between the two ecstatic fans.
By glancing at the phone while observing the race track that unfolded before his eyes and towards the horizon, he tried to distinguish the yellow helmet. The screens passed over the different riders, the public around was abuzz, commenting and shouting every time one of the cars overtook another.
He had to admit, he understood why these people spent so much money and energy to attend such races. The hours he had spent on the train with Baghera suddenly seemed to pay off.
The flash of the runner he was looking for immediately brought him back to reality.
On the screen, the pilot had a very different expression than the one he saw earlier.
His relaxed smile and joyful gestures had given way to a face tensed by concentration. The movements he had inside the car were calculated, dry and almost filled with a brutal energy.
Etoiles didn’t see his eyes, but he imagined them frowning, piercing.
“Pac is up! He’s up in the rankings!” suddenly shouted Cellbit, which might have frightened the young man if he had not noticed the name of the Brazilian moving on the huge screen.
“It’s going to be tight, it’s going to be tight!” Baghera repeated, laughing, the excitement coming out of every part of her features, and the almost annoying way she had to take the French arm to shake him.
The riders passed at full speed on the finish line in long, tapering noises as they disappeared again into the turn. The public barely had time to greet them, but this did not prevent his two friends from getting up and shouting under the amused gaze of Etoiles.
He tried for a moment to remember the names that he sometimes saw on the screens. The competitors all seemed to come from different corners of the globe, all belonging to different teams.
“Do you recognize some names?” she leaned towards him, a mischievous smile on her lips.
“A little” he admitted, rereading the same letters as if the answer would suddenly jump in his face.
“Rivers and ElMariana are part of the Mexican team, I must have mentioned them already a few times” Baghera immediately resumed, her eyes glued on the images, “They are ferocious, that’s for sure. But if you ask me, it’s Jaiden and IronMouse who are the real monsters.”
The young man tried to identify their faces on the screens, the ranks kept exchanging and the letters seemed for a second to mix with each other.
For some reason, his eyes kept falling on one word : the name of Pac.
“No, to recognize them it’s very simple!” Baghera interrupted him with her good mood, leaning towards him and pointed to a screen where two different close-ups were, showing two pilots, “Jaiden got the car with blue and purple accents, we call it « The blue bird ». IronMouse is the one who completed it, with a more pink color, it’s « The pink demon ». They are friends of Cellbit, that’s why it must be familiar”
Etoiles let a small entertained smile take place on his lips as he shook his head.
He couldn’t tell if the nicknames were cool or completely stupid.
“To be honest, Jaiden is rather the friend of Roier, my husband” if the tone of the Brazilian already showed his pride, his face was all the more so. It was very simple, Etoiles had never heard him mention the name of Roier without his smile on his face.
“Ah yeah, you really are quite well settled in the industry” replied Etoiles, amused enough by the disenchanted nod of the young man, “It must give you hives to talk with a novice like me”
“I manage to survive, hardly” Cellbit joked in a scoff, settling back into his seat as he glanced at the phone in the hands of the French, “But you are not completely wrong. Felps, my best friend, is part of the event planning, Pac and Mike are pilots, as well as Jaiden...”
“Hence the wonderful sits he manages to find for us” added Baghera with malice, “If you thought he could get some just because of his pretty face”
The Brazilian laughed again and rolled his eyes, pushing his white hair strand behind his ear. He did indeed seem to be a regular of this atmosphere, the stages, the noises, the car passages. A real fish in the water.
“If you are so passionate and already have one foot in the business, why don’t you become a pilot?” asked Etoiles, a relaxed smile on his lips.
There was a silence.
Despite the fact that the noises were coming from all corners, because of the people in the bleachers around them, he had the impression of ruining the ambiance.
Cellbit’s blue pupils had opened, shrunk as his mind seemed to boil. Baghera, she bit her lip with an embarrassed look. As Etoiles was about to apologize for a reason that still eluded him, an answer reached him.
“It’s more complicated than that” at least the Brazilian had started to smile again, and his expression was more relaxed, “Being a pilot is a lifetime's work. It takes constant effort over a long period of time, almost daily training, and a providential luck”
Even if this explanation seemed more than probable, there was something.
The way in which Baghera’s eyes made sure, with a glance, that her friend felt well. And despite the fact that he was more relaxed, there was something in his voice, something hidden.
“It was a job I liked, but after Pac’s accident...”
So that was it.
Etoiles almost turned his eyes towards the screens, to see for himself what he could possibly hide, but he held back at the last moment. And Cellbit spoke again, trying his best to relax.
“I understood that the consequences, if anything happened to me, were much higher than my own life” he shook his head, and fortunately for the French his guilt lessened when he started talking about the one who made him smile in such a special way, “Now that I have Roier, and the children, my sister, I also think of my friends, my family... I opened my eyes to all that I could lose”
“And all that we could lose if you left too” added Baghera, and she reached behind Etoiles, brushing his shoulders so that finally her fingers would close on the Brazilian’s.
“Isso é certo, you would hardly be able to function without me” he joked, giving the young woman a mocking look.
“She’s not able to function at all” said Etoiles in turn, very inclined to make the atmosphere much lighter.
Before he could add more, he felt a hard hit to the back of his head. He and Cellbit had the same reaction as the young woman took off their hand after giving them both a nudge behind the head.
“You see, that’s the problem with you men” she exclaimed crossing her arms then, looking up at the sky, “Unable to have a moment when we are emotionally close, you must be jerks about it”
Their laughter escaped and was lost in the surrounding noise, since soon, the tension returned as a wave when the characteristic noises of cars were heard. Like two puppets held by the same wire, his two friends stood up and cheered for the first cars that always fought each other for first place. The young man also stood up, trying to distinguish the pilots that Baghera and Cellbit had mentioned earlier.
And although each one was interesting in their own special way, their strategies being discernible in the way they accelerate, they rush, they double up, his eyes almost frantically searched for a single person.
The cars left behind their shadows as their speed seemed unmatchable. The drivers' heads barely moved in their seats, a glance at the phone and he saw how one of them was starting the turn early, turning his wheel quickly. The moment he could see them lasted only a few seconds, but everyone made a noisy greeting. And soon, again, they disappeared on the horizon.
A part of him wanted to distinguish it, in vain hope of perhaps being able to discover what Pac was really hiding.
He surprised himself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Etoiles had to admit it now, he didn’t regret having attended the race. The show had been beyond his expectations, he probably will never admit it to his friend, but he really enjoyed himself.
It must have been the true range of emotions that the fans had shown, the roaring noises from the cars, the excitement of the pilots, the passion in the voices of the supporters. He didn’t know anything about racing, yet what he knew was this single event had brought together passionate people, and seeing that love shine all around him filled his mind with positivity.
When he stood up, he was even the first to ask Baghera questions, asking her about the meaning of this victory, the outcome of this race. The Brazilian team had finished in the top three, and from what Etoiles understood, it meant they still had a chance for this season, hence the remarkable excitement of his two friends. The young woman and Cellbit had long detailed their answers, to his great joy.
The French was about to go home and spend the rest of his evening on youtube videos and F1 forums out of pure curiosity when his friend kindly took his arm.
“Where are you going like that?” she asked with amusement, a spark of malice shining in her blue eyes.
“You can’t leave us now” said Cellbit, nodding as he headed in a direction other than the parking lot, “Your F1 training is not quite over.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” while she continued to pull him, following the Brazilian with a big smile on her lips, the young man had the impression of having fallen head first into a trap.
They crossed a long road in tar, the stables were only a few steps away, behind a fence. There was a colossal number of people, engineers, garage owners, organizers, all running from left to right to organize and close the race. Without anyone interrupting them, they entered a large alley, Cellbit in the lead. The latter seemed to know perfectly where he was going, even greeting some people as he passed by. As they approached a large building, Etoiles could not help but have huge doubts.
“Okay, that’s all well and good, but can someone explain what’s going on?”
“Thanks to Cellbo we managed to earn ourselves a little permission and trust me, you’ll love it” replied immediately Baghera, she swung her head left to the right, all cheerful, “We are going to be able to attend a party”
“A ... party? For the fans?” he asked, definitely lost. Knowing his friends, he even questioned the legality of the operation.
“Who said it was open to fans?” the Brazilian continued with a big smile.
Etoiles looked up at him, astonished by his answer which was in reality anything but an answer. With wide eyes, he saw Cellbit shrug his shoulders and look away, leading them to the doors of the building. All the more distraught, he looked at Baghera, who was on the verge of hilarity.
Today he really got himself into a very particular situation.